Don t Promise to Promise
by aggie23
Summary: AU. Every summer since they were ten, Will and Emma met in a city where nobody knew who they were. Except for each other, and people who came in to their lifes. M rated for later chapters! Sorry for the terrible summary :
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, again! It´s nice to be writing again… This is something I've been thinking about for the last weeks and was kinda apprehensive to start it cause idk what it would turn into. I´m not sure where this story is heading yet, but I can tell you this: friendship and smut. And maybe a little romance as well. (M rated for later chapters)**

**This time it´ll be an AU; Will and Emma somehow different from the show… hope you don´t mind. ;)**

**Please review and tell me what you think… feedback is always appreciated! **

**Happy reading!**

**Aggie.**

**I**

The clamor of the ocean splashing on the shore that evening was always comforting for Will. It wasn´t the first time his family took vacations on the beach. He liked the beach. His father was born there, in Holden Beach, North Carolina, he had been told this during the drive in the old family car; and since Will was born, the Schuester's returned to the small coast town every summer, to the same house, the same beach, and the same day of July.

Richard Schuester was the sort of man who liked family traditions and an old-fashioned childhood for his son. He would rather give Will a wooden square so he would pretend it was a walkie-talkie, than buying him a brain-rotting video game.

It worked at first, mainly because little Will would share time with his father and mother; but now, a ten year old Will was bored booting the sand on his way to the sea. It was cold, and turbid; diving in didn´t seem like a good idea. So he stood there, watching the surfers afar.

And then a pail floated by his side, heaved by a foaming wave. And a red hair girl jogged next to him, a shovel on her right hand a sun-hat on the other one. Regained the plastic toy, she walked back to sit on the sand to carry on a castle she was building a few feet from him.

Sand was entertaining for her and new, she could mold it as her pleasure, but had no one to share her beach toys with; being far from home for the first time was exciting at first; the town was small, yet when activities were run out, her spirit slackened.

A splash. And then another one. And then a yell. And a splash. Emma lifted her gape, wondering who was making all that uproar and saw this boy playing all alone near her. He appeared to be having fun and she watched him, interested.

Will was bored to hell and kicked the water, pretending there was some exotic and dangerous creature swimming around. Maybe a shark, or something worst. He hopped and landed on the wet sand. The killer thing was flying now! And he kicked the air again.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!", his little karate kicks to the air cause the little girl to giggle and he turned around to see her observing his pirouettes. Her hair was flaming red. She was watching carefully and Will smiled with self importance, "Ha! Ha!"

"What are you playing?", she was curious towards the individual game and walked where he was.

"I'm superman", he said turning his face again to meet her.

"Can I play too?"

"Erm…", he looked at his father, who was smiling encouragingly, "Ok. But you can´t be Superman", he displayed his conditions, "He´s a man so I´m Superman".

"I´ll be Wonder woman!", the little one was excited.

"Ok… Oh, shoot! We gotta go to our hideout before Lex Luthor comes!"

"I´m gonna kick his butt!", Mr. Schuester was watching them from the parasol and held a chuckle at the girl friskiness. He couldn´t hear them, but she looked bubbly.

"Come, lets hide!", Will took her hand and run in direction to an isolated sand dune, "Hurry girl! Or we´re gonna get caught!", he told her once they were no longer visible from the shore and lied on his belly next to the dandelions, "Ginger, lay down!"; he was in character.

"Emma", she wasn´t playing anymore, "My name is Emma", and her smile faded away.

The innocent nickname had upset her and Will fell silly. He never called people names, he blushed, "Sorry, Emma. I´m Will".

She stared at him and was about to leave until his voice stopped her, "You can borrow my sword if you want", he offered an old stick he kept hidden from other older kids.

"Superman doesn´t have a sword", her words showed mistrust.

"Yeah, but Luthor is too strong and my Superman superpowers are not enough"

"But we´re two now… We can beat him", changing her mind, she accepted the 20 inch branch he was still offering.

"Yes! Lets prepare for warrrr!", he let out a battle yell and took her hand again before racing back to the coast, passing between their two families. They were already making conversation after seeing the kids getting along so well.

It came natural for the little two to look for each other´s company. It was an unknown city and they had no friends to share the long summers with. Will usually didn´t play with girls, but Emma was fun; and Emma usually didn´t talk to boys, they were cruel to her most of the times. But Will was nice.

Every summer afternoon of 1988 slipped away just like that, hiding behind their dune and the crawling dandelions, plotting plans to defeat imaginary villains from the dark waters of the muddy marsh.

When the moment arrived, the Pillsbury and the Schuester exchanged phone numbers and addresses with the promise they would be in touch. Emma and Will didn´t promise to do so. Goodbyes seemed senseless for them; they were just kids.

"Bye, Emma"

"Bye, Will"

Mr. Schuester took her parents into a warm embrace, "We´ll see each other next summer"

"You bet it, Schuester. I´m gonna play canasta all winter to beat the crap out of you next July", Mr. Pillsbury was enthusiastic.

"Bye, sweetie", Richard Schuester kissed Emma´s cheek, "What do you say, Will?"

"Bye, Emma", he repeated and not needing another word, he leaned forward and planted a quick peck on Emma´s other cheek.

"Bye", she whispered as a flush covered her face.

-xx-

_A/N: Chapter oddly short, as you can see… always have problems with starting a fic… Thanks to my beta, for helping me with this! The prompt left for one of the girls will be published soon! Still accepting prompts in my __ask box__ and here: __im-reggie-lambert . tumblr . com / ask_


	2. Chapter 2

**Happy reading! :D**

**II**

They met again on the same day and at the same beach for the next four years.

"Richard, my friend!" Mr. Pillsbury would exclaim taking him between his arms, just like every time the families come together.

Mrs. Schuester and Mrs. Pillsbury would set their belongings down and sit together near the water to talk until exhaustion.

"Emma, remember Will?" her mother would always ask her. Emma would always nod in response. Of course she remembered him; she would constantly think about him.

"Hi, Will," her voice would come out soft every occasion; she would never know how to greet him. A _kiss, a handshake, a hug_? Not knowing what to do in response she would just stand there.

"Hey, Em," he would smile tenderly and take her in his arms for a friendly squeeze.

Although that summer was different from all the others in the past. That summer, Emma found a taller Will with longer hair and broader shoulders, not a huge difference from the past year, but he had grown. Will discovered Emma was beginning to look more like a young woman and less like a girl. Despite her narrow frame, he noticed her hips were somewhat wider.

"How are you?" he questioned releasing her from his hold and directing them to the dune where they used to play Superheroes.

"I´m fine. You?" she responded as she followed alongside him. The dune had been their secret spot since day one, "How was school?"

The sand was warm underneath their bodies; the dandelions had crawled through the hill. The place was as deserted as four years ago; and they were as close as they used to be. They talked for hours, shuffling as the sun crossed the sky until finally it set behind the dune.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" she inquired when the time to leave arrived.

"You know I will," he stood up and assisted her offering his hand, "Are you staying all July?"

"You know I will," she mocked him, "I´ll see you tomorrow?"

They did; every day at their dune. For some reason, no one went there, which was comforting since school year was sort of hectic and crowded for them. That was why privacy was appreciated. Will was the sweetest person Emma had known; he was considerate and respectful. His father had taught him that. And Emma was garrulous, a quality her friend really appreciated. She was gracious and honest, but she welcomed silence was well.

"Do you wanna go for a walk tomorrow night?" he enjoyed hiking with Emma through the quiet streets of Holden Beach. They used to wander across the town of the beach at least three times a week.

"Uhm… I don´t think I can", her eyes were elusive.

"Oh… Why not?"

"Some friends from West Virginia are coming…" she breathed most of the words.

"That´s cool!" he faked an excited tone. He was ok with the way things were. He liked being with Emma and not worrying about other people; "Are they staying for long?"

"I don´t know… I didn´t invited them", her locks swayed when her head shook repeatedly.

He remained in hushed confusion, "Do you want me to go with you, guys?" there was barely a week left for July to end and he wanted to spend it with her.

"Uhm, maybe not," an apologetic grin lined her features; they were not nice girls for him to meet but she didn't tell him that.

"Ok…" there was a little hole on the sand where his fingers had been fiddling at. Is_ she embarrassed of me_?

"But I promise I´ll see you tomorrow, right?" a smile intended to make him look at her failed miserably.

"Sure".

She didn´t keep her promise; she only showed up for a brief moment to ask her mother permission to go out with the girls that night.

Will glanced at her by the corner of his eye and Emma´s two girlfriends laughing in the distance. And he felt silly. They were only summer friends, but that was no reason to be mean to him.

"Bye Em", his farewell aimed to remind her she had failed her word.

"Uh, bye Will… I´ll see you tomorrow", her head tossed to the girls and then back to him, "I-"

"Sure…" he smiled untruthfully, "Have fun."

"T-thanks".

She felt horrible. Standing up to her friends' wasn´t something she would normally do. Caitlin and Marcia weren´t ever her friends, they were more acquaintances from the Math Club. They were pushers and probably the soon to be High School Queens. Thinking at it logically, there was no explanation Emma would accept hanging around with them.

"Who was that dorky boy you were talking to today?" the night had fallen on Holden Beach and the streets were practically empty while the three girls walked across the picturesque town.

"Uhm, a friend"

"Just a friend?" Emma nodded in response; "He´s kinda hot…," Caitlin was pushing her buttons.

"Don´t try anything, please?" she really didn´t want them to go near him.

"You like him, don´t you?" Marcia was snooping while asking, "I bet he´s your first summer love", she was shooting daggers and Emma blushed, "You´re dating him, aren´t you?"

"Is he a good kisser?" the girls were as prying as they could be.

"I bet he is… He has nice-"

"We haven´t kissed", maybe the truth would shut them up. On the contrary, the fuss was insufferable.

"You haven´t kissed?"

"Why not?"

"You haven´t kissed a boy, have you?"

"Yeah, she doesn´t look like she has"

"I can´t believe you never kissed anyone!" giggles and mocking tones made their appearance.

"That´s because you´re too shy, Emma."

"No one is gonna want to kiss you if you dress like that."

"You need a make-over."

"Yes, she does."

"And maybe flirt more…"

"I don´t want a make-over", she was fed up, at the edge of tears, "And I won´t _flirt_ more"

"You´re such a prude, Emma… how are you-?"

"I´m not a prude!" she was outraged, "I´m just… me! Normal…"

"Emma, a normal girl would have kissed someone at the age of 12, maybe 13"

"_What_?" tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. "I think I'm gonna go home"

"What about that make-over we-?"

"I don´t want a make-over! I don´t want anything from you!" she screeched highly hurt before turning around and escape to anywhere else.

The dune seemed like the only place safe for her right now; going back home with the little make-up she had applied blemishing the rings around her eyes was unacceptable.

It was dark and she could barely see. She thought there would be no one else around.

Her body collapsed on the firm, cold, sand. She felt foolish for letting Will down, for listening to Caitlin and Marcia speaking so cruelly and for allowing their stingy words to get to her. Alone in the dark, Emma cried. Sobbing softly face buried in her hands, she never saw Will approaching her.

"Emma?"

"Will…," She jolted, failing to disguise her stifled voice, "W-what are you doing here?"

"I saw your friends in town and you were not with them… and I went to your house and your dad told me you were with them," he explained approaching her, "What´s going on? What happened?"

"I fought with them," by no means she would ask him to leave. She was so sorry.

"Why?"

"They said stupid things and hurt my feelings," she was blubbering.

"I thought they were your friends."

"They are not. They never were; that´s why I didn´t ask you to come…," she excused herself, embarrassed, "They are classmates… we never speak"

"Then why-?"

"I d-don´t know"

"I thought I embarrassed you…," he lowered his gape before looking back at her.

"What? Gosh, no…," he would never embarrass her, "It´s them… God knows what you would have thought if you´d meet them…"

"What did they say?" he really wanted to tell those girls to go to hell.

"They said… I wasn´t normal"

"What? Of course you are," she was probably the most normal girl he had ever known.

"You think so?" she sniffed.

"Yes"

Silence felt upon them, until she finally broke it. She wasn´t so sure about his reassuring words, "Do you… kiss girls your age?"

Although he was disconcerted, he answered her question, "I kissed a girl, yes… she´s our age."

Emma budged on her place, nervous, "Was that your first kiss?"

He blushed; it was odd talking about those sorts of things with Emma, "Erm, yes…"

"When was it?"

"Last winter," she nodded taking in his words; Caitlin and Marcia maybe were tight after all.

"You?"

"I, uhm…," she gulped, "Uhm… No"

"Is that why they made fun of you?" the question was close to a whisper.

"Yes" Shame. So much shame, "Don´t tell anyone"

"Whom would I tell?"

"Your friends"

"I won´t tell… I promise", he added when seeing her with distrusted look. "They are idiots," he stated seriously, "You´ll have your first kiss soon"

"When?" she sounded defeated.

"When you want to"

"I want to", her cheeks were flushing red.

"I… I could kiss you if you want", he never thought about kissing her, but didn´t want her to feel rare because she had not done it before.

"Really?" it would feel strange being kissed by her friend. But she really wanted to. Will appeased her.

He leaned forward and Emma waited. She had no idea what to do. He saw her eyes flickering, and pressed his mouth to hers, softly, kindly. She added the same pressure on him and felt him move slightly against her flesh. Her hands rested on her lap. _Where should I put these_? Emma felt his nose brushing hers, near the spot where her cheek began; their eyebrows touching, their warm breathing on each other. Will was gentle supporting his weight on his palms, kissing her under the stars, and heat reached her body; a foreign and intoxicating heat she had never felt before.

Then he pulled away. And they stared. Her eyes enlarged; his expression, expectant.

"Uhm…"

"Was that… what you… thought?" he was nervous.

Her tongue licked her lips; lonely flesh felt melancholic now he wasn´t close; "I think so," words came out puffed, "It was, uhm, nice; _very_ nice. Thank you"

He chuckled, "Thank _you_". A blush spread across her face and Will took her hand, "Ready to go home?"

"Yes"

"Ok, let's go"

Before long, summer ended. The luggage was packed, the house had been closed. Emma was the only one missing in the navy-green car.

"I´ll see you next year, right?"

"Yes", they shared a friendly hug; he would really miss her, "I´ll come get you… or you come over in case you arrive here first"

A honk.

"I will... Bye Will... Take care"

"You too, Em"

**I´m so sorry for the late update! I´ve working with this story, and I'm really hope you enjoy it! Chapter 3 will be published soon! Thanks a lot to my beta for helping me and making the chapter more pleasant!**

**Feedback is always appreciated!**

**Aggie **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much for your reviews lasts chapters! Hope you enjoy this one! And thanks a lot to my beta for helping me with this!**

**Aggie**

**III**

Will had just turned sixteen when he arrived to Holden Beach next summer. It had been a great year; the Glee club had won Nationals and his braces had been removed. Now his teeth felt slick; he was in Heaven.

"Will!" Emma exclaimed holding him in her arms as soon as they met, "Hi!"; she had longed for the holidays since she had returned to West Virginia.

"Hey, Em!" he smiled largely realizing her and his pearly teeth shined. She seemed more outgoing, bubblier.

"You´ve got your braces off!"

"Yup," his tongue moved across his brand new denture and she giggled.

"They look good," she complimented; strange thing for her to do.

The dunes welcomed the teenagers. Every year, when they took refuge in the private sandy hill; they would chortle as force of habit brought them there.

"I heard you won Nationals," Will smiled with satisfaction, "Congratulations"

"Thank you. It was… amazing. I still can´t believe it."

"I bet you can´t. I´m happy for you," she was extremely proud, "How was New York?" West Virginia and Holden Beach were the only two places Emma had visited in her whole life.

"Mind-blowing… There are things to do everywhere; so many interesting people… I kinda miss New York… Lima is lame next to it."

"I´m sure any place is lame next to New York," He let out a small snicker, "You can go back… you know, after high School"

"I don´t think I could qualify for NYU," a chuckle flew out of his lungs, "But it´s ok… Maybe I´d go to work there for a few years"

She was a good listener; her attention had developed with the years and Will´s talking was interesting, captivating and new. New York seemed like an outer space city to her.

"Would you like New York?" he questioned after chatting for hours.

"I don´t know… I'd really enjoy the musical comedies… or the Ballet… But living there? I don´t know… Seems like a lot of people and noise"

"Emma Pillsbury´s a southern girl, huh?" he imitated her accent and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ass"

A smirk lined his lips. She had never called him names before. Teasing Emma was amusing and she looked sort of adorable when being perturbed.

"Why are you smiling?" she acted offended.

"I'm not," holding a laugh was hard.

"You were. Ha-ha-ha. Funny. Do you wanna go to the sea?" she stood up and offered her hand.

"Sure," but while standing up, she released her hold and he felt right on his butt, "Hey!" sand slipped in his bathing suit.

"Don´t laugh at me, William," it was her turn to giggle and run towards the shore; he would catch her if she remained standing there.

-xx-

July went by uneventful; routines were changed, but at the end of the day they ended up doing the exact thing they did the day before. Though, their parents didn't mind. Going to the beach and spending the entire afternoon looking out at the ocean and talking about what life would bring to their kids seemed to be the perfect way of spending their time.

But Will and Emma were stirred up, seeking for new experiences and cheeky stories to commence their teenage years. Sitting near the dandelions wasn´t enough anymore and the subject was brought up by Emma late one afternoon, by middle July.

"We should do something else."

"Like what?" he inquired lying on the warm sand.

"I don´t know…," she budged. She had an idea and his eyebrow lifted in acknowledgement, "You´ll laugh at me."

"I won´t. I promise," he added seeing she was doubtful.

"We could… buy some liquor and come here and, uhm, drink it," she trailed so coyly it brought a chuckle out of Will, "You told me you wouldn´t laugh!" she kicked his foot fairly hard.

"Ok, ok… Sorry," he brought his knees to his chest to prevent Emma for kicking him again.

"You promised," words were important for her.

"C´mon, Em I was just teasing you… You really wanna get drunk?"

"I didn´t say anything about getting drunk… I just said-"

"Yeah, I know what you said, but you´ll end up drunk," he warned her knowing how those things ended. His entire class had said so and they all finished throwing up everywhere.

"And you won´t?" it was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Of course I will… And who´s gonna take us home?"

"Ourselves!" he was always worried, "Will, this town is 10 miles square… how far away from home are we?"

"You really wanna do this, don´t you?" she nodded excitedly, "Ok, let's do it. But we have a problem… whose gonna sell alcohol to a sixteen year old girl?"

"Don´t worry. I got it covered"

-xx-

"You shouldn´t say things like that unless you´re sure…," Will teased his friend while strolling on the sidewalk after miserably failing at the booze-shopping.

"Shut up, Will… that man totally tricked me," she said annoyed folding her arms on her chest. "This turned out to be the worst night ever," she was moody, he could tell.

"Hey, thanks for what I got here!"

She let out a snicker while softly pushing him, "What are we gonna do now?"

"We could still go to the dunes", he proposed shrugging his shoulders, "or go to sleep. It´s up to you"

"I don´t wanna go to sleep," her grumpy voice brought him to smile.

"Then, let's go."

The beach was, as usual, abandoned and they occupied their usual spot near the dandelions.

"We always end up in the same place," Emma mentioned quietly and added as feeling him shift, "It´s not that I don´t like it. I like spending time with you."

"Me too", he took a deep breath before continuing, "I always miss the summers. I feel odd at home… My friends are cool, but talking with you is different"

"Good different?"

"Definitively," she smiled widely at his words, "How´s people in West Virginia?"

"Two legged, a nose…", Will laughed, "A mouth, two arms… there´re two kinds of humans: males and females", she prolonged her joke, "There´re only few good specimen of females and no decent males".

She was sharp and quick-tongued, virtue he really merited and respect. "A few good females, huh? Then I have a reason to go visit you."

"The only good females are vacationing in Holden Beach", she informed faking a cocky tone and he burst into laughter, "Me and my mum"

"Ok, glad I'm here, then… What a about the males? Not one single decent boy?" Emma lowered her gaze, suddenly feeling a little like amateurish next to her friend, "C´mon, Em… I told you about my crappy winter-love."

He had. He had dated a girl from the Institute for five months before she got bored and ended the relationship. Shelby was older than him; a year and seven months older. And Will had learned and done some stuff, stuff Emma hadn't done. That was the reason that silly feeling was awakened in her.

"I started dating a boy, but it didn´t work," she put lowly, toying with the border of her top.

"Aaaaand?" he encouraged her with a wink, "What happened?"

"He, uhm… dated other girls… which was cool," she spoke quickly seeing he was about to say something, "Because we never said we were in an exclusive relationship"

"You were ok with that?" Emma nodded and he just didn´t understand, "So, what was the problem?"

"That exactly. He dated other girls who… Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing!" her cheeks flushed pink, which she masked with trembling hands.

"What?"

"We never got further than… you know… kissing," Emma was whispering, like if so it would impede him to miss her words, "But he told me I wasn´t as good as the other girls…" _.humiliation_.

"_What_?" she agreed; he was stunned, "I'm sorry but you were dating a real _asshole_. How could he say that?"

"I, uhm, I don´t know… Maybe he was right-"

"Emma-"

"He _was_ dating other girls and they never complained. And he wasn´t that bad; but I just didn´t feel comfortable"; her reasoning was absolutely miscalculated.

"Em, you´re a smart girl. You can´t possibly buy that. He said no one ever told him he was a bad kisser? And you believed him?" the girl blushed even more; he had a point, "And secondly, maybe, I don´t know, I'm just saying…", a gentle smile lined his features, "… the fact that there was no chemistry was because you weren´t comfortable?"

"Maybe…," she had been so naïve and remained quiet for a while, taking his words in. "Did you ever lie to a girl?"

"With something like that? No," he thought carefully before continuing, "When something doesn´t work… You know, physically… I just tell them."

"What if…," she gulped, "you know other boys had the same problem with the girl? Wouldn´t you think she´s a lousy kisser?"

"You had… This is not the first time this happened? You, being uncomfortable?" she would have never passed as someone with anxiety.

"I don´t know why I get so tense," there was anguish in her voice.

"Um-um", he shook his head incredulously, "It can´t be that bad"

"It is," theory and methodology of kissing was something they never expected to end up doing.

"Naa"

"Really, Will"

"Show me."

_What_? She froze.

"Yeah… show me," he wasn´t trying to hit on her, on the contrary; his words were tinted with innocence, atypical for a boy his age, "and I'll tell you if you´re right"

"I´m not going to _kiss_ you," she was giggling, "it embarrasses me! And if I suck you´re gonna laugh at me."

"I´m not gonna laugh at you. I promise," his reassuring words softened her. The whole issue seemed like a Hula-hooping lesson.

"So what, I just have to kiss you?" her giggling never ceasing.

"Or we can do it at the same time"

"Ok," she reallocated herself nearer, "Now?"

"Yes, now," he said welcoming her closeness.

Their lips connected simultaneously. Emma was nervous, wrecked nervous and her mouth moved on his. _What is he gonna think? I´m a lousy kisser. He´s gonna laugh for sure_. _Oh my God_. Her tongue brushed his upper lip to meet his flesh. _Prepare yourself for his mockery, Emma_.

Will could tell her mind was speed racing; she was tense. Her lips moved mechanically, her face was still. it wasn´t working. So, he gently pulled away.

"You´re thinking," he said looking directly into her eyes, "Feel it, don´t think."

"Uhm, ok," but before she could ask something, his lips were on hers again. This time, it worked better. Her shoulders relaxed, and so did her neck. Their wet flesh connected once more, and Emma allowed herself to let go a little.

He bent his head slightly, instinctively cupping her cheek with his palm, "Relax, Em," he mumbled against her lips.

And something flowed through her chest, down to her belly. Something different; hot. Maybe it was the way his words ricocheted in her mouth, or the way his finger trailed patterns across her jaw line, or even the fact that it was with Will which whom Emma felt as safe as ever. She placed her hands on his chest and returned the kiss seductively like it was the most natural thing to do.

Their tongues twirled together, their lips danced and nibbled. She was slackened and her breathing, somewhat irregular.

Emma learned fast; so fast it made Will nearly impossible to hold back. He wasn´t expecting to want to devour her mouth or to be clasping her nape like that to bring her closer. He kissed her mightily, obliviously snaking his arm around her waist. She was tiny and decided while moving her head to deepen the kiss.

She felt ablaze for the first time and Will felt aroused; his friend was arousing him like he had never imagined. He had to stop or this would end up bad.

Emma was breathless when he slowly pulled away. The warmth of his palm was still on the small of her back and her own hands resting on his pecs.

"I, uhm…," she puffed and the tip of her nose was rose-pink after all the rubbing, "Was that…?"

"Yeah… It was… perfect," he licked his lips, they felt swollen, among other parts of his body, "Was it ok for you?"

She nodded repeatedly, swallowing hard, and smiled with genuine blissful, "It was, uhm, nice. _Very_ nice"; like a year ago, she doubled her words.

If they only knew how spectacular it felt for each other and how much they craved for doing it again.


	4. Chapter 4

**New update! As usual, I wanna thank Nicole for helping me with this. Thanks so much! **

**Currently having a little blackout about how this is gonna contunue but i´ll make sure to keep writing! Please review! your comments are always ancouraging!**

**Aggie**

**IV **

Summer of 1995 brought two future seniors back together, just like every year. The normal edginess Will would feel minutes before seeing Emma would disappear the precise second their eyes jointed.

"Em!" hugs were exchanged between the two families along with small dialogue and some questions about Christmas and New Year´s Eve.

"Hi, Will!" she was as pale as every July the 1st when they would meet, "How are you?"

"I´m great," he smiled widely, "You?"

"I´m very good! Glad to be finally here," simultaneously they faced their dune.

"My lady…," his arms waved chivalrously causing her to giggle.

"Well, thank you," they rested on the white sand together and Emma smiled, "When did you get here?"

"A couple of days ago… Dad wanted to visit some cousins… You?"

"Last night… Long trip. Mum drove," he chuckled.

It was probably the warmest summer in a long time. Staying until sunset became a daily practice, but the night strolling died down after Emma mentioned as a trivial detail she was dating some guy from West Virginia.

In that moment, Will felt like there was an ocean separating them and not because she acted likewise; it was himself edifying a constant restriction to reach her. She was lovely, though. She was so charming, funny, and beautiful. She had grown so much more beautiful. Her body had changed just a bit since last summer, her hips in particular. Her face was still ring-shaped, like the one of a young girl and woman to become.

He had missed her, her company above all. And as hard as it was to confess it, he had missed her lips and longed about kissing her again, just like that night were they ingenuously had tried to learn and help.

For her sake and his, Will wished her boyfriend was a good guy. His affection for Emma exceeded friendship; it was hard to describe it, he just wanted the most amazing things for her.

"You´re acting distant," she declared one afternoon while dipping their toes on the water, "Is something wrong?"

"No, Em… Nothing´s wrong, why?" he never intended to seem unfriendly, but she had a boyfriend and he wasn´t particularly cheerful about it. Actually, he had been daydreaming about asking Emma to go out with him and go to Lima during the winter and he would go to West Virginia as well. They could do something else besides satisfying themselves with thirty days a year.

"I don´t know… You´re quieter than usual," she stared at him with a tender smile, "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yes, mother, I'm ok," he mocked her, pretending to be annoyed, "You ok?"

"I´m good; just worried about you."

"Ok, drop it or I´ll have to heave you in there," his eyes went to the sea and then back to her.

"I´ll go by myself!" she stuck her tongue and rush to the water; she was sure he´d pick her up from the ground and carry her inside if she kept mocking him.

-xx-

It was funny how Will felt himself on a constant rollercoaster. He would have expected her to act more reserved towards him considering the fact she was seeing someone. But it was the exact opposite. Emma was a sweetheart all the time. She would brush his hand, smack him mischievously, and bat her long black eyelashes at him, nearly in a flirtatious way. He had no idea if she was doing all that deliberately but it was nerve-wracking.

He would never put all the pieces together and realize Emma had acted that way since forever.

"What are you doing?" she was curious while walking to his back-laying body under the parasol. Their parents were gone to buy an afternoon snack.

"Reading," was his polite reply.

"What are you reading?" she let herself to rest by his side, supporting her weight on her elbow.

"Crime and Punishment," fighting the impulse to stare at her, Will compelled his eyes to the glue on the white pages.

"What is it about?" playfully, she moved closer trying to peek at the inside of the book.

"I don´t know; I can´t read," her doe eyes widened at his rough words. He didn´t mean to be so ill-mannered and instantly lamented his words.

"Sorry I disturbed you," her voice was sharp, in less than a blink there was no one by his side and Emma was walking away.

"Em.. I'm sorry…," if she had heard his apology, she dismissed it because she wasn´t coming back and he mashed his face burying it hard in the opened book. "_Shit_…" Why did she have to be so nice all the time? Couldn´t she behave like a bitch (like most of the girls at his school) so he had a reason not to speak to her? Now she was furious and probably hurt, and she had done nothing to deserve it.

"Can you talk? Are you free now?" she asked with a hint of irony after a few days of reserved and forced company.

"Em, yes... Listen, I´m so-"

"I know you are," she cut him off seriously, "and that´s why I am speaking to you again. I don´t know what´s going on in that curly head of yours, but whatever it is you can tell me," he eyed her doubtfully but she was determined to let him know her thoughts, "You don´t need to talk to me like that. You can´t and I won´t take it, ok?"

He clenched her hands between his, "I´m sorry… I don´t know why I came off like such an ass…"

"I´m serious, Will," her warning was sharp, "If you ever speak to me like that, don´t expect me to come back." Above all the people she knew, Will was the last person Emma thought would be so cruel. It had hurt, but she respected herself enough not to take that from him, or anybody.

If he had high regard for her, now Will could only admire her more, "I won´t be such an idiot again. I promise"

She smiled, "You always keep half your promises."

"I´ll keep this one"

-xx-

"Will you tell me why you are acting so weird?" she inquired a week before their holidays came to an end.

Will hesitated but decided to stop thinking about it so hard, "Erm, I´m… getting used to the idea that… you have a boyfriend." It was the first time summer they had found any of them in a relationship.

Emma blushed intensely and old sensations stirred in her insides. "It´s nothing serious…," she undervalued her date back in West Virginia.

"Oh…," he nodded, pretending she had a valid point although she hadn't.

She watched him looking away, biting his tongue in order to keep his mouth shut. _He likes me_? It was a far possibility Emma had never contemplated to come true. The reality was last year´s kiss had haunted her dreams more than one night in a row. She hadn´t had such sensation since that night and in the end the fact that it was because it was with Will had hit her months ago.

"Do you wanna go for a walk tonight?" she wanted to spend some time alone with him, but his behavior would back up her belief about him.

"I don´t think I can, Em…"

_You like me_?

"Gotta finish 'Crime and Punishment' before this week… Sorry," lies were not his thing.

-xx-

They did see each other the next day, and the next and the next. But Will longed for their night-walks together, and the last time they had met on the beach, hours past dinner time, things had ended… heated. He certainly didn´t want that. So, he didn´t tell Emma he would go strolling that Thursday evening.

However, distinguishing her silhouette standing near the dune way past eleven, messed up with his avoidant plans; it was like fate was determinate to get them together, "Hey"

"Hi, Will," she seemed shorter with her ankles buried in the sand. It was a hot night; probably the hottest one since they had got there.

"What are you doing here all alone?" he looked around; the place was deserted, "It could be dangerous," he reprimanded the red haired staring into his eyes. She was smiling. A sweet and coy smile lined her features.

"It´s not that dangerous… and it´s really hot. I was thinking to swim for a while," decidedly, she walked to the wet sand, letting a small wave splash her bare feet. "It´s nice," was her implicit invitation.

He stared at her; the moonlight contoured her thin shape and her pearly skin glowed subtly. He got lost with her graceful moves, until her voice snatched him back to reality. "You don´t mind do you?"

"Wh-"he looked startled and she giggled.

"Me. getting in," her head tossed in the direction to the black deep-sea.

"You don´t have a bathing suit," his mouth went dry. _Please, don´t_.

"I know, but my bathing suit is just like my underwear. And so is yours," her big eyes sparkled and Will shook his head.

"I don´t mind," _Please, do_. He managed to articulate and the buttons of her jean shorts flew open before landing on the sand, next to his toes. When the cotton top came off, he discovered she was wearing matching underwear. Pink. Pale pink clutching pale skin; and he couldn´t help to stare.

She was free and unworried, naturally folding her cloths while her flesh cooled off with the light blowing breeze. "Are you coming?" she asked softly seeing him standing awkwardly a few feet away.

"Erm…" she was already walking to the water cheerfully, like a totally different Emma from past summers. She was cheeky. Who would have thought she had known what a real kiss was only a year ago? Now she was striding in her underwear toward the sea. She was like a forbidden fruit and he peeled his t-shirt in less than a second while running behind her.

"Hey…," she muttered emerging from the water and pulling her hair back, "Is nice, isn´t it?"

"Yeah…," He watched her swimming around, occasionally diving and reappearing on the surface near him.

"What´s wrong?" her voice was quiet while approaching her silent friend.

"Don´t you have a boyfriend?" he asked suddenly, wondering what were they doing and her eyes flickered.

"Do you really care? I mean, you joined me after all… And it´s not like we´re doing something inappropriate. We´re not kissing or, uhm, touching," her cheeks flushed pink, "We´re just swimming".

His eyes locked with hers. She was right. He had cowardly projected his own anxiety on her. Because the truth was, he really wanted to do something inappropriate with her. "I know," he could only state.

"So what´s the problem?" she asked sweetly, taking a few more steps towards him.

"Erm… there´s no problem," he rubbed his nape and Emma giggled.

"I think there´s something and you don´t wanna tell me… What is it?" her eyelashes batted.

"Are you like this with your boyfriend?" words came out clumsily.

"He´s not my boyfriend," she corrected kindly, "and what do you mean?"

"You know… this, erm, forward"

"I´m not a slut if that´s what you´re asking"; she was far from being something like that. Way far.

"No, no, no- I-I didn´t mean it that way- I guess- what I was trying to- You know what, don´t worr-"

"I´m not like this with anyone," she cut him off grinning at his nervousness. She continued, "if that´s what you mean. This… carefree", she remembered her school uniform, the strict routines the nuns imparted and Emma felt suffocated; and Will was like a breath of fresh air, "Are you always so… tense?" The water moved and shuffled their legs bringing them closer together.

He understood what she was talking about; he was holding back, he was always holding back with her. "No…I kinda… I date a lot," was his muttered reply; he didn´t want her to think he was some sort of ladies man. But he was, and didn´t want to be like that with her. He respected and cared about Emma too much to try something with her just for fun.

"Oh," was all Emma could say; jealousy pinched her guts, "Are you dating someone?"

"Why do you ask?" there was a hint of mischievousness he couldn´t hold back.

"Well, you asked me that same question minutes ago."

He chuckled, "Well, yeah… that´s true"

"So?"

"So what?"

"Are you?" she smacked his shoulder

"No," _Why is she even asking? She´s dating someone_.

"So you´re free" she teased him.

"Yup, I'm free"

"Don´t you want a girlfriend?"

"I do," her curiosity was cute; he really liked Emma.

"So?"

"There´re no interesting girls around". _Only you_.

_What am I supposed to say_? "Oh…", was all she could think of, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Their eyes deadlocked when she lifted her gaze and her lower abdomen tickled violently. "Uhm…," the water rippled amid them, "What about a race?"

"We shouldn´t swim too far… It could be dangerous," his gape was so intense Emma felt herself burn.

"Everything´s dangerous to you," she mocked with the last hint of humor she had left.

"No, not everything," he tittered, "Just what´s beneath… I don´t like what I can´t see"

"You can´t see my legs now", and suddenly she disappeared under the water.

Will swallowed, '_you can´t see my legs now'_; she was flirting, openly and directly flirting with him and he had no idea what to do about it. He felt the flow between his legs. _Was that…_?

"Wha-? Em, where are you?" he pleaded she would emerge soon.

"Boo…," she whispered _very_ close to his neck.

"When did you…?" he was startled.

"I have a chicken for a friend"

"I´m not a chicken," was his pathetic defense.

"I think you are," she liked teasing him, "You´re afraid of what you can´t see"

"You´re not?" she shook her head, "You are"

"Nope"

"I bet you are"

"I bet I'm not". They grinned at each other. She had missed him, and so had he, "Will, listen-", but his head submerging in the water to prevent her to from talking. "Will…," she called warily holding a giggle, "Will, come!" but he wasn´t coming up and Emma didn´t dare to move. Twenty seconds, thirty and he wasn´t appearing. Forty, fifty… and still nothing. She shivered with anticipation.

She lost the bubble on the surface next to her, the moment he released a small puff of air. And he couldn´t take it anymore; with a swift move, he grasped both of her ankles and Emma failed to recoil under his tight grip. A gasp flew from her lungs when his hands moved up her legs while emerging on the surface to finally rest on her hips.

"Boo…," he duplicated her previous joke between pants.

"William!" she shrieked with giggles, "You can´t do that!"

"Do what?"

"That! Scaring me", he chuckled, "You´re such a tease", she breathed deeply when seeing he wasn't retrieving away.

_She´s dating someone. Pull away_. "Erm…," he cleared his throat and ran his fingers through his dripping curls, "Aren´t you cold?"

"Yeah…," _Liar_, "Maybe we should get out".

"How did you meet your boyfriend?" he asked casually, walking back home. Their soaked underwear hung from their hands after changing behind the dune.

"He´s not my boyfriend," she clarified once more.

"Are you or he seeing someone else?"

"No"

"So he´s your boyfriend," his statement was accurate.

"He´s a friend´s friend… We´re just girls at School," she reminded him with a sigh, "But I´m not sure why I keep seeing him"; she wasn´t really. He didn´t make her heart speed, he didn´t turn her into a complete different person, like Will.

"Then why do you?"

"I don´t know", _any relation seems as fulfilling as ours_. "Did you date someone this year?"

"Nothing serious", _I´ve been expecting summer to see you_. But she was dating someone, and he would be the third party. "I´ve been busy…"

"With what?"

"Glee Club, school, taking extra classes…," he sensed himself sounding boring.

"I see…," she thought carefully before speaking again, but instead words rolled out her mouth stupidly, "Why didn´t you kiss me?"

"You, erm, you´re dating someone", he slid his hands in to Bermuda shorts pockets, suppressing the instinct of crushing their mouths together, "It wouldn´t be fair."

"But you wanted to, right?" her voice was close to a whisper.

"Yeah… but it wouldn´t be fair"

It wouldn´t be fair for Damian or Will. She knew it and wasn´t a two timing girl and certainly didn´t like playing with people´s feelings. Therefore, there shouldn´t be anyone the next time she meet Will; that was why as soon as Emma got home, she broke up with Damian.


	5. Chapter 5

**V**

Starting University was a strange feeling. Emma was thrilled and yet nervous. She would leave her parent´s house to move to Virginia and maybe, just maybe, Will would move too and be closer to her.

There weren´t any promises made, but she could still recall the look on his face the night he had confessed he wanted to kiss her. And, oh, she had wanted it too. She hoped. She really hoped he would parallel to her current relationship status.

Unusually, the Schuester's arrived to Holden Beach some days later than they used to, for a moment Emma feared they wouldn´t come that summer.

But they did, and she rushed towards him when spotting him at the distance.

"Will!", and then she lowered her pace. All her excitement vanished when she saw Will approaching her, hands tangled with a tall blonde smiling girl. "Hi", was the only thing Emma could articulate.

"Hey, Em!" he released the blonde´s hold and gave his friend an affectionate squeeze, "How are you?"

"I´m, uhm, fine! Great, actually…" _Bullcrap_. "You?"

He smiled, "Spectacular"

_I bet you are… you´re dating a blonde hottie_.

"Hi," the girl greeted seeing that he wasn´t making any introductions, "I´m Holly"

"Shoot, sorry… Em, this is Holly… Holly, this is Em… I told you about her."

_You told her about me_? She fought with the impulse of yelling at him; instead, she spoke charmingly, "It´s nice to meet you, Holly. Did you have a nice trip?"

"The worst… the car broke…," she said resigned, "We had to stay in a Motel… Old story"

"That´s why we just got here," Will explained with patience and then spoke to his girlfriend, "But you can stay a few days to get back the days you missed."

"How long are you staying?" the red hair questioned faking interest. _Tell me you´ll leave tomorrow_.

"Two weeks. Top… I´m visiting my family afterwards, which is gonna be _thrilling,_" Emma didn't receive Holly´s sarcasm too well and by the look in her face, they probably noticed it.

"I´m gonna, uhm, leave you two to put your things in order…," she mumbled looking around. "I´ll see you later!" and she left as quick as her legs allowed her to.

As July went by, she wished Holly wasn´t that outgoing. Instead of spending some time alone with her boyfriend, the blonde girl persisted with inviting Emma to join them. The light kisses, the hand-holding, the ear-whispering only caused her blood to bubble with frenzy. And as a replacement for her itch for gouging Holly´s eyes out, Emma smiled at them as they were the cutest thing she had ever seen.

Not sharing what it was supposed to be _her _summer with Will and finding the foreign girl asking questions all the time leading Emma to think how much had he told her about their summers together. _Maybe not too much_, she considered while listening Holly talking about her last trip to Brazil, _she wouldn´t be calling me to join them every minute of the day. Maybe she´s just studying me… Maybe she knows_… She was being paranoid and shook her head dismissing her ridiculous ideas.

"What are you gonna do next year?" Holly questioned interested on one of her last afternoons in Holden Beach. She had no idea how their feet had guided them to the dunes; and Emma didn´t like it. Not one bit.

It was the first time the subject came up; Will hadn´t asked her anything about her year and it caused her pain, "I´m going to Virginia"

"Aren´t you from Virginia?" the girl looked confused and Will lowered his gape. She wasn´t confused at all.

"West Virginia. That´s a different state,"all kindness evaporated when catching Will´s acknowledge eyes. He was embarrassed and she didn´t ask her what were her plans.

Silence. An uncomfortable and never-ending silence felt upon them. Emma was enraged and she didn´t bother to conceal it. He had turned out to be a dominated boyfriend; or he just didn´t care. Whether it was the one or the other, Will had never been such a stranger to her.

"I´m gonna go to the sea," Holly announced after a few unspoken moments, "Wanna come?"

Emma shook her head and Will just replied a cloying 'No, Hol… It´s kinda cold'.

"Ok, I´ll be back in a while."

_Drown. Just drown_. She was deeply annoyed.

"So…," he trailed when Emma turned her head and brought her knees to her chest to wrap them with her arms. "How are you, Em?"

"I'm fine"

"What do you think about her?" he really appreciated her opinion; but he was lost so lost.

"It doesn´t matter what I think as long as you like her," she cleared her throat.

"Are you jealous?" there was a mockery tone in his words and Emma wished she could throw a sand ball at his face.

"I´m not… I´m just… She didn´t need to be that disrespected," finally she dared to look at him and when their eyes met, his goofy smile faded away.

"I´m sorry… didn´t know you were truly upset," he had no idea. About anything.

"I can see that"; _why am I coming out like this_? She didn´t like making scenes, but the whole situation was beyond her control. She took a deep breath and recomposed herself, "It´s ok… I´m sorry. Don´t worry"

"You´re cold," he bluntly said after seeing her shiver.

"I´m fine"; she was freezing, the wind had turned wintry.

"Here," he pulled his T-shirt above his head, "Wear this"

"Will, really it´s not-," he had been working out, clearly, and for a moment her eyes marveled with his body. "Don´t-"

"Stop arguing, Emma," he teased her and slide the cloth down over her head. "There you go…,"she looked at him, not moving an inch; she didn´t understand him; "Now your arm…", carefully he grasped her thin forearm and raised it up through the sleeve, "and the other one… ready. "Looking good"

"You didn´t have to do that," but he had and she had let him.

"What´s wrong, Em?" he tried to read her expression, but didn´t succeed; her flaming locks flashing so beautifully with copper-colored and amber stripes distracted him.

"Nothing´s wrong"

"Em-"

"Shit, I'm _freezing_!" Holly´s complaint robbed Will´s attention, "Didn´t think the water would be so cold! Brrrrrrr!"

"Told you not to get in…"

"I know," she laughed and positioned herself between his legs to warm up, "I´d have asked for your T-shirt, but I see you already borrowed it," a complimentary wink was sent to Emma, "But I think I like this more"

-xx-

A kiss on Will´s lips, a hug for Emma, and Holly finally left Holden Beach. However, the blonde´s departure didn´t abate Emma´s fluxed mood, which at first he accredited to his girlfriend´s presence.

"So you´ll go to Virginia University?" he brought up casually the subject up while being alone.

"Yup," her head moved up and down, in a slow nod.

"Are you excited?" he had no idea what to do to make conversation flow.

"Yup… Kinda scared, but I´ll be ok…," she added with the same intention he had. "You?"

"I got in to Baltimore´s… So I'm moving there. Didn´t qualify for NYU."

"Sorry"

"Doesn´t mean I´m not going to the Big Apple… Maybe next summer," he didn´t notice Emma shifting nervously.

_You won´t come next summer_? "Oh… That´ll be nice"

A minute slipped away, and then another. She was toying with a seaweed, "How´s, erm, what was his name?"

"Who?" her confused eyes settled on his.

"Your boyfriend…"

"I don´t have a boyfriend," and then returned to the wet algea.

He chuckled; he should have guessed she would say that, "Ok, your _date_"

"I´m not dating him anyone"

"I thought you-"

"We broke up"

"I´m sorry…," he was; bad experiences with boys was all she had had and she deserved more, "What happened?"

"Why do you always assume something bad happened?" a sad grin lined her features by realizing how well he knew her ex-boyfriend´s bad records, "Nothing happened. We just broke up."

"When?" _Do you even care about the date_?

"Last August"

"Oh… _Oh_", and then her words hit him. "Em…", he didn´t know what to say when her disenchanted gape raised, meeting his, "You-I…"

"It´s ok, Will", _I just believed you wanted something to happen between us this summer_, Emma swallowed her thoughts. _What can I do? He´s dating Holly_.

If Cupid existed, he would probably be squirming by how dreadfully his charge had resulted.

-xx-

Regardless the recurrent off-time obstacle, Emma´s last night at Holden Beach was spent at the dunes with Will. What had taken her to accept his invitation was unknown; but there they were, occupying their typical spot nearby the dandelions, the sound of the splashing waves the only melody around.

"I can´t stay long, Will. Dad wants to leave early tomorrow morning," she informed him looking around at the deserted landscape leaded her mind to recreate memories she didn´t want to.

"I know… We won´t stay longer," he stared at her; she was disappointed, he could tell. "I'm sorry, Em"

"Don´t be," there was no need for she to ask him what he was talking about, "It´s ok"

"It´s not. I didn´t know-," he breathed, "Em, I like you", she chocked, "I really do." Surfing through her mind in order to find something honest to say, failing miserably; his fingers gently brushing her curls off her face finally made her react.

"Wh- what do you expect me to do? You´re dating Holly."

"I don´t expect you to do anything," he couldn´t tell how their noses got to be so close; nether the less, how his hand moved to cup her chin.

"It wouldn´t be fair," she sucked in air.

"You want to," the scene seemed so familiar.

"It wouldn´t be fair," pulling away was the hardest thing she had done; even harder than putting up with Holly for two weeks. "Have a great year, Will," she whispered as she held him in a close embrace and kissed the corner of his mouth, "Bye"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for this filling chapter. I hate doing this, but I promise there´s a reason… I wasn´t expecting to write anything about their lives during winter time… but as I said above, this is a filling chapter. So as my vindication (and your reward for not burning me alive) I'm gonna update next chapter tomorrow or the day after tomorrow… lol **

**Aggie**

**VI**

Will hadn't meet Emma the next summer. According to her father´s words, she had got a job in France and wouldn´t be returning to the U.S until September. Basically there was no chance he would get to see her before classes recommence. He was deeply sorrowed by this because she was not only the best friend he had, but the best person he had known.

Returning to Holden Beach was experienced like a regression to the time when he was ten; alone and bored playing Superman while kicking invisible enemies. Now, there were bunch of kids like the one he used to be, but not one single person who could replace Emma.

Even the thought of inviting Holly to visit didn´t look like an appealing option to him. They had been dating for a year by now, but as months elapsed, he discovered that even as entertaining she could be; there was something missing in their relationship. Sure, they had fun together; but he sought for something more.

The dunes were uninteresting and depressing, even the few flora there seemed to have appease in its intents to conquer the sand hills. Only parched stems garnished the landscape.

"How´s Emma?" the hopelessness of his voice attracted Mr. Pillsbury´s attention.

"She´s doing great, son… We´re so proud of her. She got excellent grades at school."

"She was always a smart girl," he sighed, "You think she´ll come next year?"

"We hope so… We´ve only seen her for winter Recess… "

"Oh… "

"How´s Holly?" the man inquired with acknowledgement; he had met her the previous summer, "Isn´t she coming?"

"No… no, no", Will shook his head, "I need some me-time," it was true, "We´re doing ok; she´s fine, but we spend all year together so…"

"I see…," he didn´t actually; Will´s gloomy attitude arouse his interest. "Are you ok, Will?"

"Yes! Yes, I´m ok," he wasn´t. He missed Emma and regretted how things turned out last July. The look on her face when he had tried to kiss her had broken his heart. She didn´t deserve to be the third in a party.

-xx-

The phone ringing that February evening in Emma´s bedroom resounded through the empty corridors. It was late; her roommate was gone and books were the only company for her that night.

"Hello?" the speaker was cold against her warm skin.

"Emma?"

Her heart skipped a beat. _No way_. "Yes? Who is this?" _it can´t be_.

"It´s Will." The air was sucked out of her throat. "You ther-?"

"Hi. Will, wh- How are you?" she had no idea what to say.

"Are you busy?" his voice sounded so far away.

"No… just caught… unaware. It´s nice to hear your voice…," at last she could articulate something more like Emma and not like an uptight-governess.

"Sorry I call so late"

"It´s ok. Is everything ok?" he never called. She had never expected him to.

"Don´t worry, everything´s fine. Just wanted to say 'Hi'"

"Hi," she smiled and he chuckled.

"How´s school?"

"Tiresome. Can´t wait to sleep for two days in a row. You?"

"Bien, muy bien!"

"I assume that´s 'good, very good'…?"

"Yup. I´m majoring in Spanish."

"That´s nice…," she spoke softly and he was silent. "Uhm, are you ok? Why are you calling?"

"I´m sorry"

"Don´t apologize," was her sweet reply, "It´s nice for you to call. How-how did you get my number?"

"I asked your dad for it. Hope you don´t mind… I wanted to talk to you; I´ve, erm, I´ve missed you"

"I´ve missed you too", only their nervous breathing hummed on the speaker.

"It was weird not seeing you last summer"; _it was depressing_, "But I´m glad you went to France"

"Paris is so lovely, Will…," she sighed; he didn´t know it yet, but the European setting had made her glow with a different air, "I wish I could go back…"

"Maybe you can…," with selfishness, he hoped she could, but not that summer, "Did you make friends there?"

"I went with three girlfriends… We shared expenses and stuff"

"Tell me about it…"

She giggled like the old Emma would, "What do you want me to tell you?"

"Everything," his velvety voice made her blush, just like the old Will would have.

-xx-

He called her some more times, sometimes twice a week.

Then his telephone bills let no other reason than to adjust his budget, but Will kept calling, maybe not as often as he would have liked to, but as often as he could afford.

Then there was Holly asking all those questions about how come he was always counting pennies. He told her the reason and she exploded, arguing friends do not call friends long distance every week.

And that was when they broke up.

Will carried out with the calls. But as weeks elapsed, they became shorter. Emma seemed to be busy, so finally he settled with hearing her voice once a month.

**Told you it was short! D: Please don´t hate on me! 0=)**

**Next chapter will be updated tomorrow!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, everybody! As I promised, here you go... a quick update due to last filling chapter! Hope you´re enjoying the story so far! For those people who keep asking for some smut, here you go a little preview! ;)**

**Thanks a lot to Nicole for helping me!**

**Feedback highly appreciated! **

**Aggie**

**VII**

It was thrilling to see Emma again. When his eyes finally meet hers he realized what a change Europe had made in her. Or maybe it was just time, he couldn't really tell. The only certain thing was she had grown as she looked older; there was an outline of maturity in her face which she didn´t have when she was younger.

He watched her walking towards him; she had lost weight, not too much, but her body was slender, curvilinear, yet tiny and slim.

"Hi, Will," her arms wrapped around his neck in a friendly hug, like they always did.

"Em… hi," he returned the smile she gave him when releasing him, "how are you?"

"I´m good. You?"

"Fine… It´s nice to see you. It´s been so long,"

"I know," she brushed her hair off her face and stood there facing him with pleasure.

Will mirrored her body; it was the second time they wouldn´t tramp around the dunes. It felt weird.

"Are you staying all July?" _Of course she is, why you ask stupid things_?

"I might leave a few days earlier… but I'm not sure yet. You?"

"Why are you leaving?" he asked curious surprised by her response.

"Back home I guess… I only went once this year… for Christmas and I feel guilty," she giggled cutely. "You´ll stay all July, won´t you?"

"Yup"

"You´ll never change. I´ll help dad with that and meet you in the shore, ok…? He had a surgery this year and his arm isn´t very well yet"

He waited for her with his ankles buried in the porous sand, but when minutes passed he realized Emma wasn't coming. He found her under her parasol, lying on her belly completely asleep.

"She says sorry, Will," Mr. Pillsbury whispered when seeing him standing there, looking at her, "She drove the entire way here…"

"No prob…"

"Come. Sit by me and tell me how was your year…"

-xx-

Expectations were unknown for both of them. It had been long, but not so long for Emma to guess she would find such a changed Will in only two years. His features guised more like an adults; his jaw line was sharper and his scowl, stronger. But he still was the kind and loving boy she met years ago.

However, his phone calls disconcerted her. But hearing his voice had been a delightful surprise despite how horrible they had been at saying goodbye the past two summers. What happened after Holly´s appearance and his refusal to kiss her the prior summer before. She shouldn´t have asked him his reasons, she knew him too well. _He´s loyal, why would he cheat on his girlfriend_?

If he was currently dating someone, Emma didn´t know. They hadn´t spoke about it since the beginning of July. Actually, they had been speaking only about trifling things; like college, prospects and things they had done during the winter. No dates, no relationships. And Emma wondered…

_Hold your horses, right there_. For some reason she always ended up making assumptions. And then, the inexorable assumption would assault her mind. _I should get over with this… maybe that´s why I can´t stop having this thoughts_.

Just like his friend, Will used to have those kind of ideas. There was a thin line between wanting to be with someone and actually wanting someone; but that line was a complete blur for him. It had been a long time since he had experience what wanting Emma was; _but it´s not like that kept him awake at night_. He had dated girls, he had been with girls; and he had no idea what he wanted with Emma.

That night found her walking alone across the shore. The dunes shed only shadows and confined the coastline of the few noises coming from the boulevard.

The water was tepid when reaching her bare feet and not thinking it twice, she walked to the dry sand to leave her footwear.

"Hey, Em," Will´s voice alarmed her.

"Oh, crap… Will, you scared me," she hadn´t noticed him sitting there.

"Sorry," he couldn´t help but chuckle at her terrified expression.

And then her features softened, "Hi," they grinned at each other about how easy falling in habit could be. "What are you doing here?"

"Wandering around…. Thinking," he stood up and started walking.

"About what?" immediately, Emma joined his stroll.

"I didn´t know you´d come this summer."

"Why not?" she marched towards him, and just like every time her questions probe him, he mumbled his reply.

"Well… you´re not living with your parents anymore; I thought you´d vacation with your friends or boyfriend. I´m glad you didn´t, though," was his confession, "It´s great to see you."

"It´s great to see you too," they walked together in silence with only the clashing of the ocean; "Spring break," she said after a while.

"Uhm?"

"That´s when I travel with my friends."

"And boyfriend?"

"No boyfriend," she eluded his eyes and added quickly, "You´ll always come here, won´t you?"

"Yup", he nodded proud, "It´s a quiet town. I like quiet. Why not?"

"Why not what?" she responded as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Why isn´t there any boyfriend?" it was like all the thinking had been thrown away.

Her tongue licked her lips, "I´m seeing someone… but he´s not my boyfriend." They both sensed it, that sharp feeling of déjà vu. "You?"

"I broke up with Holly," he passed over her relationship status.

"I'm sorry"

"It´s ok… It´s four months already… Or more, I'm not sure."

"Sorry," she repeated although she wasn´t.

"I´m not. It wasn´t meant to be. You always come here, don´t you?" he doubled her previous question.

"You mean he-"

"To the beach. At night"

"Yes"

"Why?"

She directed her eyes to the sea to conceal the light his prompts brought to them, "Uhm.. I like swimming"

"At night?" he smirked.

"Especially at night," she didn´t intend to sound so provocative, but she did; her voice laced with an unfamiliar craving. And her pace was interrupted when arriving to the recognizable shore of their dune. "You don´t mind, do you?"

Again, the déjà vu shook his insides as she dropped her flip-flops nearby.

"No," and again, his mouth went dry when Emma pulled her shorts down her legs. He didn´t know if it was a good idea; they were not kids anymore. They had stopped being kids years ago. How much longer would they keep fooling around? Did he want to fool around with Emma? "Em, list-", but the words never left his mouth when she watched her unbuttoning her shirt and all the blood of his body travelled south. The bare skin of her back glowed under the moonlight when she looked at him over her shoulder. She was dazzling.

"I didn´t know you would be here," she came out with the most pathetic excuse. There was no chance Will could put out a coherent sentence. Her slender arm coated her naked chest, but she didn´t dare to face him completely. "I would have brought my… uhm…"

"Bra?" he finished the line for her and Emma nodded. His hand moved tentatively to brush the curls off her neck, but almost right away, he retrieved it. He didn´t want to be disrespectful.

And Emma lowered her gaze, "I, uhm, better get in…".

Will gawked at her as she walked; her oval behind swaying seductively as she did. _She´s tricking me? She wants this?_ He didn´t understand; she was dating someone. Her slim silhouette contrasted with the movable surface of the ocean; she was practically naked, walking in with care through the wet sand and broken shells like a mermaid who had just learned to walk among mortals. The water splashed on her hips and she let out a playful squeal before diving from top to bottom under the next wave.

"It´s nice!" she let him know gesturing her arm at him. Just like three years ago, Will peeled his shirt and pants off and jogged to her.

It wasn´t as nice as the last time he had skinny dipped with his friend and goose bumps erupted on his skin. "It´s not that nice," he said rubbing his own arms up and down to warm up.

"It is! It´s nice…," she giggled and swam below the surface to him, "Are you cold?" her voice was filled with concern when emerging and resting her palm on his upper arm. He was cold and her eyes impulsively admired his muscled torso.

Will watched her; he ogled at the showing curve of her breast when her arm left the water. "Not too much."

She caught him staring but his eyes never abandoned his target. Maybe she would get cold feet. He wished she would, he wasn´t trying to mess with his friend. But Emma took one of her coy steps toward him. She didn´t dare to take the lead. She had no idea how to.

_Maybe_… She splashed water on Will´s face.

"Hey!" she giggled and did it again, "Emma!", he chuckled, "Stop! I'm warning you…"

"Oh, I'm so scared," water streamed down his face for the third time and he intended to catch her.

"Come here!"

She eluded his grip, "Nope!" her arms stroked the water, trying to swim away, but he was faster and his fingers closed securely around her ankle to pull her forcefully against him, "Let me go!" she struggled between laughs to get escape from his hold. But his arms were already snaking around her shoulders, making it impossible for her to move. Emma fought back for a short time before relaxing her own arms and removing them from her chest.

And then Will felt her. Her breast glued to his torso; he couldn´t tell if she was cold or aroused, but her eyelashes batted. They were immobile, waiting, letting their bodies to get used to the new sensation.

He stared. She stared. For what seemed like hours, until his hands fell to her hips and his lips to hers. He stole a gentle kiss and returned a bunch; softly, unhurriedly, delicately nibbling at her bottom lip and then exploring the white skin of her collarbone. Obliviously, her arms wrapped around his neck. And felt him; felt his hands creeping up across her ribcage, bellow her breasts. Her chest engorged, inviting him to keep on; until finally he cupped her breasts and nipped her nipples.

"I…uhm," she gently pulled away, "it´s late," She had no idea she could feel so hot; the intensity of the moment overwhelmed her and at his puzzlement, she managed to sneak out of his hold.

"Wh-"

But Emma was already walking with difficulty back to the shore.

"This is not right," she mumbled with her back to him while marching to the dune; she couldn´t find her clothes.

"Because you´re dating someone…? I know! That´s why I asked you, Emma," confusion and exasperation tinted his voice.

"It has nothing to do with that." She was aroused. So simple and plainly aroused she had no idea what to do with her tingling body.

"You´re teasing me, right?" he was incredulous; he didn´t just want to sleep with her, he wanted to understand her.

"I'm not"

"You are, Emma"

"I´m no-"

"Yes. You are. First you asked me all those questions, then you invited me to your skinny dipping session. You´ve been flirting with me since you got here; For years now. You want something and then you chicken out." He had no idea what was going on in her head.

Emma was facing him now, listening, naked, and vulnerable to what he had to say. His words sunk in; and there they were, the dandelions conquering their dune.

Her eyes were wide and her heart hammered hard against her chest.

"Emma-," her lips sealed his so forcefully, he almost tripped. Their tongues met early (even before he could move his mouth on hers), hungrily, seeking for the sparkle missing in those seconds of arguing. His flesh ran across her teeth, she sucked on his bottom lip and fisted his curls bringing him closer as a moan was muffled. He pressed his lower half into her soaking panties and Emma gasped. She _felt_ him brushing her lower abdomen. She had never done this. He was throbbing and so was she.

"Will…," she dared to call his name, "I, uhm, I don´t want my first time to be on the beach."

"Wh-," he had really no idea, "You are…?" ; Will was startled. Never, among many things, would have thought she was a virgin. Ever. She never acted like one.

"I'm sorry," was her apology when a hint of disappointment flashed his gape.

"No… no, don´t be sorry. I thought you- you´re right. This has to be special for you, not like this," he said looking around. That was no place for her. She deserved so much more.

"It´s not that I don´t wanna do this… I just, uhm, pictured the whole thing completely different," she explained embarrassed.

"I understand. You don´t have to explain," he was sweet kissing her forehead.

"I didn´t mean to trick you"

"I know." When the fresh breeze blew, Emma realized there was nothing clothing her chest and instantly, covered herself with her arms. She felt mortified. And then warm; it was Will hugging her. "You´re freezing"

"I´m naked"

He chuckled, "Me too." With a mind of their own, his hands caressed her behind, softly, and she let him rejoiced with her moist flesh. She kissed on his jaw proved her he tasted saline, and so did his mouth when he tossed his head to join her hanker. That night, under the stars, they touched. She was hesitant, but determined to learn, and with trembling hands explored his desire for her.

Everything seemed surreal; Emma was touching him and he wanted this to be special for her. His fingers stroked the heat of her thighs and he missed the look on her face when she buried it in his neck seconds before she started panting erratically. Soon, her pulsating core found release against his palm.

And everything was a blur, a dazing and marvelous blur.


	8. Chapter 8

**As usual, I wanna thank Nicole for helping me with this… And I wanna remind you this is AU or OCC, whatever you wanna call it… (just bringing that up ´cause the story is gonna have a twist soon). Reviews are highly appreciated!**

**Enjoy!**

**Aggie**

**VIII**

As much as it seemed she was being a coward Emma refused to keep playing that game with Will. The school year went fine and she had met someone. Someone special, someone who made her feel safe and comfortable enough to assure her this would last. She wanted it to last. Carl was a good man, quite different from other boys she had met. _This is serious, right Emma_? He had asked her during their third date and she had nodded blushing. It had been the first time a man had put the cards on the table so frankly and she had liked it. She had been wondering if someone would ever do that with her.

Her luggage was smaller than usual that summer while arriving to Holden Beach. She wouldn´t stay long, event Will inquired curiously while lazing on a Friday afternoon.

"I´m leaving on Wednesday. To Miami."

"Miami?" it seemed like a very un-Emma place for her to go, "What are you going to do in Miami?"

"Same as here… I´m going with Carl…"

"Carl? You mean the guy you've told me about?" he was curious about this new character in Emma´s life. They had talked on the phone in December and a couple of times more before meeting now and he recalled that name being brought up.

"He has a Convention there…"

"Oh…," Of course. She had mentioned him, her _dentist_, her _old_ dentist. But he never expected the relationship to be that serious, "So you´re going together…"

"Yes. He booked a room in this nice hotel and while he´s attending to the seminar I´ll be-"

"Shopping?" her smile faded away immediately and Will rapidly laughed pretending it was an innocent joke. But, oh no, it wasn´t; _He bought you with that, Emma? Really_?

"Ass!" she smacked his arm, hard, laughing as well. "I´m spending time with his family."

"Ok, Ok… no need to get aggressive."

"I will if you keep pushing… I like this guy; I really do"

"More than…" _me_? "other guys you´ve dated?"

"I think so…," it wasn´t a naïve blush covering her cheeks; she knew what he meant and didn´t have the heart to say yes.

"Do you love him?"

"Yes; it´s different with him," it was; Carl made her feel special. That´s why she had given him the most precious thing she had to offer.

"I´m happy for you," leaving the stingy jealousy aside, he was. Maybe it was time for them to stop fooling around with each other; waiting for summer like children for them to be together. Just like he had this past winter.

"Really?" for some reason she was expecting him to start attacking her for dismissing what had happened in the dunes last July. But he didn´t. Instead, Will smiled at her genuinely and squeezed her hand with tenderness. Emma had no idea how to feel about that.

"Yup"

However, sometimes, when there were no indiscrete eyes around and when conversations reached that familiar point of scorching honesty; everything would go to hell. Neither of them could tell whose hand would grasp the other one´s first; but there they were, toying with their interlaced fingers. Emma wondering what on Earth was wrong with her while Will was feeling like the worst person alive at potentially ruining his best friend´s relationship.

And it all detonated the last sunset Emma presence, while the sun made her hair glisten with more colors than the sky itself had.

"I´m sorry, I´m sorry," Will apologized for the third time in the last forty seconds, "I promise-"

"No, Will, you´re not!" her cheeks were flushing red after his mouth had brushed hers, "You´re not sorry. You´d do it again!"

"Yes, I would if you keep sending me all those signals!" he was so frustrated he couldn't begin to say it.

"I´m not sending you-"

"You are"

She was lying, brazenly, but would never admit it, not even to herself. "Will, we can´t keep doing this."

"I know," he tumbled on the sand; she was right. And he was dating someone.

"Why do we keep doing this?" Emma sat next to him, calmed down and looked at the ocean. It made no sense.

"I don´t know… It´s just. I really like you, Emma"

"I like you too but that´s not enough for me. And it´s not enough for you either." There was compassion in her eyes; the previous anger in her voice had died away. "You´re dating someone and I have a boyfriend. This is not fair. For any of us"

"I know that!" he rubbed his face, furious; not with her, not with him; but with how things had turned out for them, "I want to be with you"

His determined words dazed her, "I´m, uhm, I´m with Carl. You´re with Terri. Carl´s a good man. And I'm sure Terri´s a good girl too"

"She is," he agreed, "I like her. I really do"

"You love her?"

"Yes, I think so," she was probably one of the most amazing girls he had ever met.

"Then why would you ruin something like that? Why would I?" she had no idea Will would come with such a proposal.

"What if… what if we were together?"

"You think you´d be with other people?"

"Erm…," he couldn´t say no. That´d be lying, and he would never lie to Emma.

"You can´t promise it. Don´t promise," she was kind. She continued, "I don´t think so either," he was stunned; she had always seemed like a maiden from those romantic novels his Literature professor would make him read, "and I don´t want to trick you."

"Me neither"

"I don´t want to ruin what we have just because we can´t keep our hands in the right place"

"I could go see you. You could come see me," he had no idea how desperate he sounded, but occasionally, Emma provoked those feeling in him.

"For how long?" she was on the edge of tears; he was killing her. _Why didn´t he say this before_? "For how long would it work?"

He said nothing. He knew it wouldn´t. He knew he would get drunk and sleep with some random girl from college. He knew he would call Emma twice a week and then someday, he would forget to. He knew he would postpone getting together for some exam or a party at the sorority. He knew he knew couldn´t lie to her. "You´re right," Emma gulped, hard. "It wouldn´t. I can´t promise you I wouldn´t be with other girls. And you don´t deserve that"

"I can´t promise you I wouldn´t be with other boys"

"We´re ok?" she smiled and nodded. "I´m sorry"

"I know. Me too"

"I´ll only promise you this. I´ll never interfere with you and any boyfriend you have. And if someday," her eyes met his, "we found ourselves alone… well… We´ll see."

"Ok. That´s a promise I can make." She smiled wholeheartedly and after a few moments of taking in silence a mutter flew her lips, "I love you, Will. You´re my best friend"

"I love you too, Em. But maybe… maybe that´s not enough for us."

"I know," and her head rested on his shoulder as they were watching what the last of the sunset of their season was together.

_A/N: I just realized how short this chapter came out... :S No me gusta... any way, next one will be better. Reviews make my day :_D


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello avid readers! I just wanna thank you all for you lovely reviews! Keep them coming! :D **

**Just a little author note: I've decided to portray Terri quite different from the show (you know, different from her slightly annoying b*tchy side… lol)… And remember, _please_, this is AU… Well, that´s all... Happy reading!**

**IX**

Emma had no idea, literally no idea she would return to Holden Beach in those conditions. She had matured with Carl; she had grown confident and responsible. And they would move in together. It was the reasonable step to take.

Summer found them together again and an affectionate hug was shared. Only this time, there were introductions to be made.

"Will, I want you to meetCarl"

He observed the man standing in front of tall and tanned and handsome. His blue eyes sparkled under black hair and eyebrows, "Hey, it´s nice to meet you," Will greeted him friendly and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too. I´ve heard only good things about you".

"Same here," it was true. The few times they had spoken on the phone,Emmahad talked about him until exhaustion. "This isTerri. Terr, she´sEmmaand this is her boyfriend,Carl"

"Hey!"Terri was affable when hugging Emma tenderly. She knew the red hair was a beloved friend ofWill; and Will´s friend´s were her friends too. "It´s so nice to finally meet you"

"Same here," at the first impression, Terri seemed like a nice, decent girl and for the first time, Emma didn´t feel that awkward sting in her stomach every time a girl would be in a relationship to Will.

The two couples sat together; for Emma and Will the former summers were left behind. They had grown, they had accepted what destiny wouldn´t grant them, the past was the past and they would have to keep it that way. Especially for Emma.

During the few days Carl spent in Holden Beach, Will learned he was certainly a good thing for his friend. His young spirit camouflaged the fact that he was in his early thirties; _age doesn´t seem to be an impediment for her, so why would it be for you_? Every so often, he had to push those thoughts from being vomited.

"I´ll be leaving tomorrow, Emma," the dentist announced one afternoon sitting by her side.

"I thought you´d stay until Sunday," she sounded sort of apathetic.

"Yeah, but a patient called for an emergency… I sent her withLuke, but I´m seeing her on Monday"

"Oh… Ok"

"You´ll be ok?" he seemed concerned and Will couldn´t help to think he was over-reacting.

"Yup"

"Take your vitamins, ok?" gently his hand rubbed her belly, "I don´t want you or the little one to get sick."

And then it happened. Perplexity was the right word to describe how Carl´s words affected him. _'The little one'? Belly-rubbing_? _She is pregnant_? She couldn't be.

"Carl, we´ll be ok," Emma rolled her eyes with a light smile, shifting in her place, "Don´t worry"

_She is. She´s pregnant_. He could swear he would faint, but kept it together as he could. But the ground seemed to be shaking and his body temperature was reaching the 78Cº. _She was pregnant_.

"You´ll watch over her, right Will?"Carlwinked at him with complicity.

"Sure," his eyes found her panging of guilt gaze, "We´ll look after her"

Emma felt like an absolute cheater the rest of the day and if things couldn´t get any worse, Terri´s raving questions were absolutely exhausting. The blonde didn´t have bad intentions, she could tell the baby arrival excited her more than Carl itself. But she wanted to know every single detail and their future plans and Emma had no idea what she would do. Except she would move in and marry Carl but she didn´t mention that. The rest was a mystery.

The interrogation continued even after Carl left.

"I know very little… I´m only in my ninth week," the red hair said shyly when Terri´s grilling redirected towards the name choosing.

She wasn´t too brilliant or maybe she just didn´t think before speaking, "So you don´t know the sex"

"No… I only know it´s only one inch and it grows fast. We´ll know the sex by the end of the summer."

"Oh this is so nice!" she looked like a little girl. It wasn't nice forEmma, she wasn´t expecting to get pregnant at the age of 22. "Isn´t this nice or what, Will?"

"Well…," finally he dared to look at Emma in the eyes, "It´s nice, yes. Sudden, but nice." He couldn't possibly be happy for her. She was just a kid. _What's she gonna do now_? _How can she be so calm_?

"Will, don´t be rude!" his girlfriend reprimanded.

"It´s ok,Terri. He´s right. It was sudden. I wasn´t looking to get pregnant… It just happened," she sighed and lay down on her back; the sand was warm and made her heavy-eyed. She had been so tired lately.

"You sleepy? Want something to rest your head on?"

"No, it´s ok… do you guys mind if I take a little nap?" a yawn left her lips and her arms enveloped her belly.

"No, sure… go ahead. We´ll be right here if you need something," the girl was thoughtful as they stood up and dragging Will with her.

"I can´t believe she´s having a baby," it was hard coming out the shock state. His Emma, his dearly loved Emma, his friend, inexperienced, recently initiated Emmawas having a baby. _How is this even possible? Why didn´t she tell me_?

"It´s beautiful," Terri was taken by the whole idea.

"I can't put a word and a thought together," he simply came clean, "You think she´s gonna be ok?"

"Yes… she´s seems to be taking it very well. She's very calm."

"That´s exactly what worries me."

-xx-

Putting things together was easy for Will now that he knew Emma was having a baby. Now he understood why there was a certain glow in her persona, why her parents seemed somewhat depressed, and why her body seemed slightly different. In some aspects she looked different, her whole attitude was mature, quieter; the contagious vitality had curbed and being swop by some sort of reflective silence.

When the moment arrived,Terri left the East Coast. The farewell was extensive and full of displays of affection; she practically forcedEmmato send her a picture of the next ultrasound and a letter saying if it would be a baby boy or a girl. She hugged her, almost bounding by the fact she would meet the little one by next summer. But her smile slightly faded away when the red hair said she didn´t know if they would come next July. The baby´s gonna be just a couple of months, she had clarified at Terri´s sorrowful expression and then she had hugged Emma at least three more times before jumping in the car and leaving.

And for the following days,Emma disappeared.

"Where´s Emma?" she had been missing the best beach days of the season.

"She´s sick, son", defeated, "she hasn´t been feeling very well lately"

"Oh… morning sickness, uh?" he let out a nervous chuckle, which the man didn´t return.

"Yup. At least she has a reminder of the big mistake she´s made," the poor man seemed to be taking the situation as a vendetta towards his persona.

"Do you think I could go see her? One of these days…?"

"You´ll miss a perfect sunny day for a girl who can´t stop throwing up?" clearly thwarted on his daughter.

"She could use some company…"

"You´re too good to her, Will. She´s messed it up, badly", for the first time, a straight shot.

Will agreed with him, but didn´t want to add fuel to the flames by saying it out loud, "I´m sure she knows that."

"She better have."

"So it´s ok if tomorrow I hang out with her at your place…? I don´t want to be an inconvenience."

"You never would be inconvenience, Will. And sure, go at any time. Martha and I will be here all day."

Will was expecting Emma to be aware he would stop by, but judging by the look on her face when she opened the front door, her father had forgotten to tell her, "Will… Hi"

"Hey, Em", he just stood there; waiting for an invitation to come in but one never came.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you-how you were doing," _why you get nervous_? His palms got sticky.

"I´m ok," she wasn´t really. Her face looked greenish and sweaty.

"You don´t look good at all. Mind if I come in?" he took a step forward.

"Uhm, no sure…," she had no other choice but to move aside and open the door completely. "Sorry for the way I look. I´ve been lying around all da-"

"Don´t worry, Em. It´s ok really."

"I don´t like you seeing me like this," her hair was tightly tied in a pony tail and she was wearing flip-flops and a cotton top with shorts. Clearly she was in her pajamas.

"I´ve seen you worst," he didn´t mean it like that, but Emma blushed profusely, "Are you ok?"

"Yup," she slouched on the couch and looked at him, "Don´t stand there, Will. Take a seat"

"Yeah… I was, erm, thinking. Sorry"

"What were you thinking about?"

"This. It´s surreal"

"I know"

He sat by her side, on the valley where her body buckled, "Why didn´t you tell me?"

"Because of that exactly. The look on your face. You´re disappointed on me… You must be. I mean, I´m disappointed in myself… can´t imagine what you must be thinking"

"I´m not disappointed-"

"You are. I can tell… Everyone is. And it´s ok. It´s not that you don´t have a reason."

"What happened,Emma? How did this happen?"

"I´m pretty sure you had sexed. at school, Will," she still had a little sense of humor left; she had to, it was the only way not to break down.

Will chuckled lightly and locked eyes with her with acknowledgement, "I thought you would be careful."

"I was. He was too. I don´t know, it happened… It was our first year together. We got drunk. I thought he was using protection and for some irrational reason he doesn´t understand he thought I was on the pill! Why would I be on the pill?" perhaps some miraculous voice would answer, "And it happened… Gosh…," she felt like the tackiest girl alive. Embarrassed, she buried her face in the angle where her elbow folded to hide the tears falling down her cheeks. "What am I gonna do? I-I´m scared,Will… I'm so scared…"

"Emma… Please don´t cry… You-you´ll work this out," not even he could believe those words. Everything seemed so hopeless.

"How? I won´t be able to finish college… and who´d hire a pregnant girl?" she sobbed quietly, finally daring to vocalize her fears, "I don´t want Carl to support me forever"

"What is he gonna do?"

"He´ll keep working… and we´ll move in together. The wedding will be before the baby´s born."

"Wedding?" his voice echoed hers. _What_? _You-you´re getting married?_

"Yeah…"

Will kept himself shushed; the only question he could formulate would be judgmental.

"Around December"

_Who are you to tell her she´s making a big mistake? No one_. Probably her parents had said so plenty of times. Mistaken he was.

And his silence allowed her to continue, "It´s gonna be a small wedding. Non catholic. It makes no sense, right? A bride walking towards the altar with a seven months pregnancy," her laugh was so icy, so bitter, it brought goose bumps to his skin, "No. It´ll be small. Probably in Miami. My parents don´t wanna tell the family…. Like they won´t know by then…"

"Emma… that´s no- You have to do what you think it´s right," _Don´t get married_.

"This is right. It is. I love Carl," she nodded with conviction several times.

"If you think so… I trust you´ll make the best decision," but his heart was breaking as words slipped out of his mouth.

"I´m scared, Will", she was terrified, "I feel so hopeless.", Emma sobbed silently on the white leather of the couch andWillcould do nothing but rest his hand on her shaking shoulder.

He felt powerless, "You´re gonna have a baby, Em…," he whispered trying with all his soul to buy those words, "You know how many women want that and can´t?"

"It´s so-Will- what if..?" she sniffed, "What if something happens to the baby..? Or me…?"

"Nothing will happen if you do what the doctors say," it was a lie, he knew it. But what were the chances? "And Carl will take care of you"

"I don´t want to be taken care of. I´m not crippled I'm just pregnant!" she was frustrated, mad, lost and so much more.

"I know", he sighed long and deeply, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes," she cleaned her wet nose and sat up, straighter.

"Don´t get mad," he asked with caution and Emma nodded, "Why are you keeping it?"

She bit her lip thoughtfully, considering her next words before speaking. It had crossed her mind. Abortion. From the first moment she had taken the pregnancy test. Then she had bought a second one and of course it had thrown the same result. Positive. She had almost fainted. And her brain had gone through every single possibility. Hiding it, keeping it, abortion, giving it to a foster family. But Carl had found her, trembling, sitting on the edge of the bathtub; he had gone as white as a sheet and then he had smiled, like the consequences of the word pregnancy were as insubstantial as having chosen a cappuccino. His grin was plugged with such love; the concept of abortion automatically became a taboo, a sacrilege. "I couldn´t possibly ask Carl. He was so happy and thrilled. Would you…," she trailed shyly, "would you ask Terri to abort if she was pregnant?"

_Touché_, "No," he replied shifting closer to curl his arm around his best friend´s shoulder.

"That´s what I thought," she had said. In her most surreptitious fantasies, she had imagined how Will would react if this was their baby instead of Carl´s. But Emma would take that secret to the grave. Not even her therapist knew it. "There´s-there´s a life growing inside me," she looked down to her slightly swollen belly, "I can´t believe that´s actually possible. It´s so beautiful it scares me."

"What does it feel like?" his curiosity caused her to smile widely. For the first time there was someone interested about how she felt and not about how she was. Instead of popping vitamins down her throat,Will caressed her spirit with authentic marvel.

"Odd. Sensitive. My body feels weird. Sometimes my legs hurt. The doctor said I should walk more to prevent stretch marks and I must gain 20 pounds at a minimum by the end of the nine months. And Carl is feeding me like I was ready to compete in a county fair."

Will couldn´t help to laugh, "Ok, that´s good… But leaving the medical side out, how does it feel?"

"It´s a mystique. I speak to my belly sometimes, when I´m alone," she confessed as her cheeks flushed pink, "And I sing to it… almost every night"

He remained quiet, taking in her words, wondering if she was all alone back in Virginia; hoping she wouldn´t be, "Em?"

"Yeah?"

"It´ll get tough you know that, right?" he really didn´t want her to be unaware of that.

"Yes"

"Boy or girl?"

"I told you I don´t know yet," she smiled at his cuteness.

"But which one do you prefer?"

"I prefer a healthy baby"

"That´s what I thought," he grinned at her, but his smile was the saddest smile Emma had seen lining Will´s featured face. He felt sorry for her and it broke her heart.

**Opinions, comments, reviews?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, everybody! I just wanna defend myself for "skipping a couple of summers" here! ;) Actually, from now on, there won´t be a chapter by every passed July. I´ll try to write clear enough for make the time sequence understandable! Thanks a lot for your reviews! Keep them coming!**

**And thanks to Nicole (****ma1teo****) for helping me with this! **

**Aggie**

**X**

Andrew Howell was the most outgoing three year old boy Will had ever met. His oversized bathing suit made his butt look like it had been blown up; he was an absolute cutie pie. Even though he was acting a little shyly when Emma introduced them, not more than a couple of minutes were needed for Andy to sit by Will´s side and start as they started playing with his toys. In his own semi-understandable gibberish he was chatty and interested in everything around him and when Terri arrived an hour later, holding a little´s girl hand the boy inquest began.

Four years was a long time without seeing each other. Plenty of things could happen in that period, but witnessing Will practicing parenthood wasn´t exactly on that list. Emma found her mouth semi-parted staring at the scene taking place before her eyes.

"Emma!" Terri exclaimed with excitement at seeing her standing there, "It´s has been so long!" The blonde hugged her as affectionaly as the last time they saw each other.

"T-Terri! Hi," she just couldn´t over the shock, "You- Hi!" she smiled as genuinely as she could. The whole situation was beyond understanding. "You-". _He´s a father_?

"I know!" Terri´s smile grew with enthusiasm.

"And who is this little girl?" finally Carl intervened.

"This… is Annie"

"Hi Annie," Carl greeted the little one, kneeling down and shaking her hand friendly, "You look exactly like… Well, I can´t tell actually…"

But for Emma, it was obvious Annie was the spitting image of her father. The same hazel eyes as Will had sparkled under a short blond head of hair; she smiled and it was Will´s sweet smile on a two year old girl. Emma´s heart melted.

"Hi, Annie. I´m Emma… and this is Carl. And this…," she turned around and found Andy looking at them, "This is my son Andy"

"Hi", Andy said quietly.

"Andy, why don´t you share your toys with Annie?" Carl proposed happily.

"Ok"

As soon as the children sat near them, Will approached the three chatting adults carrying a container and some more folding chairs. It probably had to do with her looking of him being so responsible that brought a subtle blush to spread across his cheeks.

"Need help with that?" Carl offered standing up.

"Sure, would you put these in there? I´ll make some snacks for the kids," he buried his head inside the basket, as if it would prevent him to miss Emma´s gape.

"Need help?" he should have known she would offer her assistance any time soon.

"No, it´s ok-," finally he dared to meet her eyes and what he saw took his breath away. It was the warmest and sincerest smile Emma had given him in a long time.

"Congratulations," she whispered softly squeezing his arm, "I had no idea. She´s gorgeous."

"She looks like her mum…," was his humble reply; he only saw Terri every time he watched at his daughter. Maybe that was because she persevered on dressing Annie like her.

"She has your eyes and your smile… I think she looks like you, but blonde and with Terri´s chin," she added when realizing the real meaning of her words. _Are you telling him he´s gorgeous_?

For the fleeting second, their eyes deadlocked with absorption; none of them could put a word of the moment they shared, "Well, that´s a relief… poor creature if she gets my chin," Emma laughed and finally began to do what she had initially intended to do.

-xx-

"Do you think you´ll be busy in October?" Terri asked casually during one of their many afternoons the two couples spent together.

"Erm, I don´t think so… why?" Carl asked above the newspaper he was reading.

"The wedding will be on October," Terri´s announcement was followed by her energized giggles.

"You´re not-?" Emma´s borrow furrowed, her question slightly tinted with prejudice, "I thought you were married"

"No… We decided to wait a little for the right moment," Will sentence but was interrupted by his soon to be wife.

"You mean you waited," she was clearly teasing him, "I´d have married you four years ago"

"Ohhhhh… that was a low punch buddy!" Carl burst in to laugher.

"Ok, ok… no need for payback, Terr. So, you´ll be free by October?"

"I think so…," Emma trailed brooding over the whole idea of Will getting married. It was confusing, she shouldn´t feel ambivalent about it. But she did.

"Well, you´re welcomed. You´ll get the invitation in a month or so"

Looking at it retrospectively Will learned he had done the right thing by delaying the wedding for a couple of years. Although, truth to be told, he had freaked out the moment he found out a baby would be born. Actually the first months of her pregnancy had been a complete mess. The constant mood-changing, the candy cravings at midnight, the irritability… If he had only known Terri had so many identity issues, he would have talked to her before about it. Instead, he was absolutely unaware about her idea of being fulfilled. He knew what she wanted but he wasn't sure if he wanted it now. That was why, when Terri arrived from the gynecologist appointment with a positive pregnancy analysis his world had almost crushed. He wasn´t ready; they were not ready.

"I thought you´d be happy," she had blubbered with her face covered in tears.

"It´s not that Terri… It´s just… we´re so young. What are we gonna do?" bleakness had drained his voice, panic and uncertainty was all he had to show.

"We-we could get married," she had pursued with hesitance.

However, a child wasn´t a reason to get married; that was the only thing he was sure of. "We´ll get married when the time comes."

"What´s a better time than this?" she had been desperately trying to talk him in to that, "Will, we´re gonna be parents."

"I don´t wanna get married just because of that," had been his simple reply and Terri had locked herself in the bathroom for hours.

Now, three years after, his instinct proved to be right. Marriage, a baby on its way and living together would have been too much too soon; lightening the burden by taking one thing at a time, was the best decision they had made, especially bearing in mind the first two semesters had been rough.

"You know, Will…," Carl said casually the next day of the wedding announcement, "I gotta say you´re making the right choice by marring Terri."

"It´s been three years… the time can´t be better and we´ve been living together since Annie was developing her toes so… It made no sense taking the vows then." Carl´s curious expression dissuaded him of his next words, "Don´t get me wrong, it´s not that what you did with Emma makes no sense-"

"I know what you mean;" he understood while palming his shoulder paternally, "Marriage is not for everyone just like that… takes time to digest the whole idea… God knows Emma had her doubts." Will said nothing, she never looked like she was hesitant about getting married; quite the opposite, "But she finally said yes."

"And you´re doing great…," for some reason, the words bordered the query.

"Yeah…"

-xx-

Soon, Carl left. He never took more than two straight weeks in July, but Emma refused to leave and be around the house doing nothing except inventing games for the stirred up Andy.

"But Emma…"

"Carl, I've been spending my holidays locked inside the house… Andy has the chance to have fun here and so do I… We´ll take a bus and be home in two weeks…," she was stubborn but determined to put her foot down. And her husband had no other alternative but to agree.

It was sort of puzzling seeing Emma arriving with Andy the day after Carl´s departure.

"Em, I thought you were going to leave yesterday," Will looked confused, but still glad to see her there.

"I was, but what could I do at home? Andy gets bored and so do I… Classes start in three weeks and I start working again in two… And it´s not like my job is super stressing." It wasn´t at all. Doctor Stein, her boss and also a former professor from college had provided her the most flexible schedule. He had supported her since day one and now, after four years, she was still under his employment and protection.

"You never took Uni up again?" Terri was concerned and Emma shook her head.

"Never had the time…"

"Maybe you could now…," Will´s smile encouraged her, "You know, Andy´s beginning kindergarten and your boss is gonna be supportive of you on this one… how many courses you need to take to get your degree?"

"Just six... One year."

"You can do it. You got to do it," she lowered her gaze slightly embarrassed, she missed that kind of support, "Hey, Em…?", his hand moved to hers, but thinking it twice, he didn´t hold it; instead, he gave her a soft boosting push, "Go for it"

"I´ll think about it"

_A/N: This came out kinda short, but consider it an introduction for better times ;)_


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, readers! Thanks for your last reviews, as always! =) I´ve decided to speed things a little… and begin with the action everyone´s requiring ;) **

**This is gonna be a little angsty chapter, but I PROMISE you´ll like the next ones. **

**Thanks a lot to Nicole (ma1teo) for being my beta!**

**Aggie**

**XI**

Four summers elapsed. And four coarse winters were left behind. July found the two marriages together, and two grown kids with a real motivation to begin their adventures across Holden Beach coast. However, pertaining to one of the adults of the group the summer signified an opportunity to relax and if possible, to bury her head in the sand and not taking it out until the air isn´t enough. Her professional career ripened more than she would ever imagine; three jobs, motherhood, wife… She was done in.

Emma had inadvertently lost weight in the past months. Her mother had told her so,Carl had told her so, and now when greeting the Schuester's,Will told her so.

"Everyone keeps saying that", she mentioned as if it was no big deal.

"Well, maybe that´s for a reason, don´t you think?",Carl, as usual, interceded in the little conversation andEmmaswallowed her words not to tell him to get lost.

"You ok, Em?", Will whispered when having a second of privacy.

"I'm ok", a grin lined her features every time he showed his concern or interest on her. Somehow he had become the only person who actually asked instead of pointing. "Just tired for the trip", _among other things_.

He observed her for a while; she had never been a chubby woman, but motherhood had left its imprints across her body. Now, when peeling her summer dress off, he noticed there were no signs of that. Her ribs marked on her torso when lifting the cloth above her head, her hip bones popped out beneath the rim of her bikini; her legs were womanly and milky. She didn´t look ailing, just skinny. Probably how she would look if she had never been a mother. She was so milky.

_Curb your enthusiasm, what´s wrong with you_? Will caught himself checking out on her. _What on Earth…_?

He felt like a pressure cooker which lid had been squeezed tightly and it had been boiling for a while. For years, actually.

His marriage was doing fine, _why would you feel the impulse of looking another woman_? There was nothing going on between him and Terri. And that was exactly the reason why. Because there was nothing. He had tried, tho. Finding the missing piece of the puzzle. He had tried new things, changing routines, having alone time with Terri, looking for exciting things to do together; but nothing had worked. Was it boredom? Un-falling in love with her? Monotony perhaps… He had a loving wife, a daughter who he adored, a fulfilling job and still he felt there was something mislaid in his life… although he had everything.

-xx-

Something had changed. The vibes were perceived different; there was a impression of tension in the air, like something had broken. It wasn´t him. Or Terri. Carl and Emma on the other hand…

Will didn´t understand. He made an effort, tho. Sometimes, he stayed hooked up on it, trying to figure out what was wrong with Emma and especially, what was wrong with him who couldn´t stop thinking about it. _Or her…_? _It. Definitively it. It; not her. It_.

He turned the page around, appreciating Terriand Carlhad offered to take the kids to collect shells. _Wait, what happened on last page_? The whole situation seemed like a regression to High School. _Shit_. Through the dark crystals of his sunglasses, he glanced at Emma, lying on her back some short feet from him.

A deep sigh flee her lugs, it was nearly a self-soothing sigh and Will couldn´t help to ask, "Em, are you ok?"

"Yes", her guttural voice betrayed her and she cleared her throat.

"You´re not". The only part of her body that moved was her arm to cover her face under the angle when he elbow bent, apparently from the sun, but also from him. "Emma, what´s wrong?"

She couldn't put two words together, and cleared her throat once more. "I´m tired", she finally managed to articulate.

"You´re here to rest, Em… relax", the words seemed stupid even for him.

"I need to stop thinking for a while", her elbow succeeded on stifling a soft sob.

"Em, Em…", he rushed to her, tossing the book nearby and kneeling by her side, "what´s going on?"

By the way her chest raised and fall, he could tell she was struggling to keep the weeping out of this and gently, he removed her arm off her face to find her glossy eyes staring directly at him. Her wild curls framed her slightly tanned cheeks. She looked beautiful and heart-shattering.

"I´m tired, Will", she simply put out and that was enough for him. _Tired of what? Why?_ As much as he would ask he just knew she would keep repeating the same words.

With care, his fingers closed around her wrists and lifted her up so she came to sit right in front of him. "Do you want me go find-"

"No"

"Ok", his thumb dried the only two tears running down her face and brushed her hair behind her ear, "What do you want?"

She didn´t even think when replying such a straightforward question, "You", he blinked twice, "staying for a moment. Please?", _Don´t leave me_. She didn´t realize until then how much she had missed him.

"Of course not"

She let herself shed silent tears for the briefest moments. And when being wrapped between the sheets, all alone on the king-size bed whileCarlwatched the game, she wept many more. She missed the company of a partner. But not any partner. It wasn´t about sex; anyone could have sex; animals have sex. It was about eroticism, passion, fire, a sensation of being drifted away and then come back to life.

She wasn't just a mother; she was a woman, and a very incomplete one. There had to be something else than that, than marriage and kids. What else could she do but to freeze before every need Carl fulfilled? It was wonderful at first, being taken care and satisfied all the time. However, after eight years, she found there was no space for personal motivation; her motto had quieten down; everything was provided and Emma couldn´t handle the notion of immobility. It anguished her, deep and inexplicable.

-xx-

"Where are they?",Terri was frantic, "I can´t see them, Will".Andrew and Annie where off their views for thirty minutes now.

"They are probably playing around",Emma tried to sooth her friend´s wife, "Andy´s kinda slippery and maybe Annie just joined him"

"What if someone took them away?",Emma sighed slightly frustrated. The woman wasn´t calming down, "Where´s Carl?"

"He went for a walk", _for one of those eternal walks he usually takes, in case you haven´t noticed it_.

"Baby, Em and I come here since forever and nothing ever happened. They only thing worrying me is they getting lost"

"We could tell the lifeguard…", the red haired proposed; she was positive the kids were only hiding.

"I´ll do it",Terri jumped off her the folding chair, "and I´ll go check around"

Soon, she was gone and out of the sight, "She´s gonna walk through the entire shore, isn´t she?"; for the last days, Emma had managed to calm herself down; in some way, all the responsibility relied on Will. He had done nothing but being there, but that had been enough for her.

Will chuckled, "Yeah.. pretty much", she sighed and after a few moments, he asked, "You wanna go dip you feet in the water?"; it was too windy for them to swim and even if it wasn´t, he wouldn´t suggest it. The last time they had gone in to the sea together, he had ended up fingering her between the dunes. _Why are you even remembering this_? He hadn´t thought about it for eight years, _why now_?

"Ok"

She wasn´t expecting to be left alone withWill. The few occasions she had, conversation had flowed naturally; but now, she was defenselessness and ashamed; Emma´s belly tingled when he accidentally brushed her waist and apologized more times than necessary.

His knit furrowed at the long absence of the children.

"I´m sure they´re ok,Will",Emma spoke calmly, "They´re probably playing somewhere near. You always worry too much"

His eyes turned to her and he grinned teasingly, "You always took things too lightly".

Their gazes skimmed the beach, but there was no signal of them, "Maybe they´re at the dune", she held back a laugh when seeing his horrified expression. She knew what images crawled in his mind. "They are only 8,Will. They won´t do anything"

"You have a son", he pointed like the implicit message was obvious.

Emma played fool, "So?"

"If they do something, he´s probably the one starting it"

"I don´t remember you starting anything", she felt herself sizzling; it was the first time one of them brought their teenage years up and Will stared at her, intensely; a strand of hair was placed behind her ear, rather coyly.

"It´s true", he finally muttered and she took a step forward. One of those killing steps she used to take when being young.

And then everything happened fast. Too fast. She stood on her tiptoes and captured his bottom lip between hers with delicacy. Will froze and her ears burned. _What are you doing_?

Alienating the morality concept slithering in her mind, she moved her mouth against the petrified Will.

He was caught unaware, but most definitively wouldn´t push her away, even if he wanted. The melancholy dance of her flesh made his heart ache and after a couple of seconds, he kissed her back. Right there, in the middle of the public beach, with Terri possibly coming back and their kids probably spying on while hiding. _Oh God_. Immediately, he pulled away.

"What was that?", his lips were rosy.

"I´m, uhm… I- don´t know", a step back was given among stutters and embarrassment, "I´m sorry", her own arms enveloped her chest. Never, ever, a man had rejected her. It felt dreadful; although she was sentient it could happen: he was married and so was she.

While collecting his thoughts,Will looked around with paranoia. Praying no one had seen them he licked his lips, as if that would prolong the sensation of her flesh on him.

"I´m sorry… ", she repeated mortified, "I´m just… everything´s so-"

"Meet me tonight"

"What?"

"At the dunes. At 11. If you come we´ll talk. If you don´t, we´ll forget this ever happened".

He left and Emma cried. He was being nothing but fair but her marriage was a mess and she had no idea what to do.

_A/N: See what I did there? It´s called a cliff… lol Please review! _


	12. Chapter 12

**As you´ve been expecting… ;) Enjoy! Reviews are always welcomed!**

**Thanks to Nicole!**

**Aggie**

**XII**

"Are you leaving?" Carl inquired from the couch; Andrew was in bed already.

"I need a walk," she grabbed her purse and opened the door.

"We need to talk, Emma."

"Please don´t," she couldn´t talk about the future now, "when we get home." Handling a conversation was far from her options at the moment, so she left not giving Carl time to protest.

The night was clear while sitting on the cloth she had previously stretched on the sand. The dunes were deserted; they always were. And Will hadn't arrived yet. _Why am I even here_? She was married; she had a son. Emma loved her son. What would happen that night was unknown to her. Will seemed upset when asking her to meet him there. _Oh gosh, this is it; he´s gonna ask me not to speak to him again_.

"Emma?" Will´s voice called her name, "You´re early"

"I know," she stood up to face him directly, "What do you want, Will? Why did you ask me to come here?"

"I… We need to talk"

"About what?"

He couldn´t believe his ears, "Emma, you kissed me," she gulped and he had his feet buried in the sand as he walked to her, "Why did you kiss me? I´m married. I have a family."

"I know," she fought with the forming knot in her throat, "I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to-"

"You did. That´s why you kissed me," there was a hint of accusation he didn´t bother to hide.

"You kissed me back! Don´t pretend to be shocked, Will," now she was upset. She was sorry, but he was forgetting about one tiny little detail, "You could have pushed me away."

"Why did you kiss me?" he repeated his last question in a shameful whisper. She was right, she was always right.

"I miss you," the declaration left him astonished; her unemotional voice caused him goose bumps. "I´m not happy…I´m not happy with the life I chose," she had been repeating those words for so long they had no effect on her now.

He said nothing for a while. "I´m not happy with the life you chose either," her gaze rose and finally met his eyes, "Why did you get married, Emma?"

"There was nothing else I could do," her eyes lost in the deep ocean.

"Yes, there was. You could have remained single."

"I was having a baby, Will… I couldn´t raise a baby by myself."

"I could have helped you."

"You lived in Ohio. Still do."

"I would have gone to you."

"Oh, Gosh… Please don´t…," she rubbed her head, the feeling of decline was now an unbearable burden, "Don´t tell me 'what could have been' now…"

He reached for her hand, "I was crazy for you." She blinked twice; _what_? "And somehow you still manage to drive me crazy, Em. That´s why I kissed you back." She froze and breathed heavily when his fingers brushed her lips, "And I've been thinking about kissing you for so long. But there were so many things in-between. I didn´t want to make things more complicated for you."

Kissing him that hard was unexpected for her. Emma threw herself in his arms and stamped her mouth on his, forcefully. She forgot about Andrew and Annie; about Carl and Terri. She forgot they were married. She even forgot what had taken her to the dune.

Tangled as they were, they slumped on the cloth and Will buried himself in the creamy skin of Emma´s neck, adoring the suavity her body provided him as running his mouth across it. She panted while feeling him straddling her hips and moving forward.

"Will…," her voice was low, becoming guttural as he kept pressing his erection on her heated core.

"Emma…"

They stared; their gazes sparkled with the remains of the kids they once were.

"You´re so beautiful," his hands sneaked underneath her blouse; her flesh was burning and Emma gasped. Grasping the hem of his T-shirt, she pulled it above his head and trailed his muscles down to his abdomen.

"We´ve never done this before," she pointed with a shy smile.

"Only in my dreams"

She was struggling to keep her breathing calm even enough to confess her most secret yearning, "I want you. I´ve wanted you".

His fingers unbuttoned her blouse with expertise and unclipped her bra. The last time Will had seen Emma´s bare chest had been 12 years ago and memory proved to be flawed. She was more captivating than he recalled. He rubbed his body on hers, every patch of burning flesh satisfied and sizzled. She moved beneath him and her skirt could do nothing but climb above her thighs.

"You drive me so crazy," his mouth was sultry against hers before slipping his tongue in her mouth.

They moaned and Emma´s need dripped through her panties. Her hand sandwiched amid them and took his pants off. She felt his hardness when cupping him and Will bucked his hips on her. His Adam´s apple bobbed; a thin layer of sweat covered his upper lip which Emma licked clean.

And his eyes darkened, casted with desperate desire. In one quick move, he pulled her underwear down her legs and his own boxers off before placing his entire weight on her. She arched and cried. And he groaned when feeling all of her around him. The sensation was divine.

Emma felt herself blaze and pushed up when he pushed forward. They moved with rhythm, but she wanted more, she had never felt so ravenous in her whole life; and her legs hugged his hips and clutched his waist.

"God… Will, love…," she was huffing against his mouth, grasping his shoulders as their bodies moved together, "Does it feel good?"

"Yes-Oh, yes, Em. You f-feel incredible. You remember that night?"

"Uh-hu," she couldn´t talk anymore.

"You were so perfect that night… So hot and beautiful."

She was writhing as the tension built inside her and Will took her hands to intertwine them before placing them above her head. He sucked on her earlobe, thrusting deeper and causing Emma to tighten.

"Uh-Uh, Will s-slow down," her voice was hoarse as approaching her climax.

"Come for me, honey," her calves pressed him deeper, his shaft curled in her, hitting all the right spots, and Emma shook violently as her walls collapsed hard.

"Will!" his name came out as a whine when she came down from her peak with bliss. Her chest waved, her lower abdomen sweated.

"Emma…," he growled in her ear, not pulling away but rotating his hips on hers. He intended to make her head spin again.

She sensed herself contracting again past the rubbing on her heated knot of nerves and every hot short ram of his. The air left her mouth in small, choppy puffs and Will trapped her hands tightly against the cloth. Her toes shoved him in her, when his stomach narrowed and her insides began pulsating once more.

Emma bended when the imminent orgasm gave it first signs, "Will… Oh, goodness, Will"

"Em, you´re so sweet… I'm gonna-"

"Please, do…," she was moaning frantically and then felt him stiffening and shaking. His warm release bathed her insides and he kept shuddering and groaning above her. And she came, trembling, shriveling around him, and crying his name as intensely as the first time.

"ughh…Mmm," she was short of breath, slightly moaning on his mouth, the tension accumulated during all those years finally being unleashed.

His hands left hers to rank through her wild curls, "Em…," he was breathless, and she kissed him passionately.

"Don´t go yet," she begged. Everything had ended so fast, but they had been moving together for so long.

"I won´t"

Going back home to Carl cause Emma to feel like the most deceitful woman alive. She showered and crawled into bed as silently as she could, but the mattress plunged under her light weight.

"Where were you?" Carl´s guttural voice startled her.

"I went for a walk," they lied back to back, "And I met Will and went for a walk together"

"You smell funny," he sounded furious, "different"

"We walked across the beach. I just took a bath. Maybe it´s the shampoo", _Oh God._

"No. It´s different. I feel you different," he turned around and spoke crudely, "Are you screwing him?"

"Carl, you´re being ridi-"

With uncharacteristic brutality, he spooned her round and hissed, "Am I? I know you…"

"Carl you´re hurting me," she was trembling, on the edge of tears, "He´s my friend. I didn´t sleep with him."

His blue eyes shined with enrage, his neck was stiff, and his fist closed tightly around her thin upper arm. "Prove it," he was frustrated, so sexually and morally frustrated he would have knock at Will´s door and beat the hell out of him, even if he had no plausible reason to do so. He had never given him any reason to suspect.

"Get off me!" the young Emma had promised herself of not letting anyone treat her like that, and with all the strength she had, she pushed Carl away and jumped out the bed, "I don´t have to prove anything to you."

"Wait," realizing how similar to a beast his behavior had turned out, he grasped Emma´s hand.

"Don´.," disgust, fear, disappointment all together tinted her voice as she got rid of his grip and rushed out of the bedroom.

It was a real drag having to remain indoors for the next two days as a sturdy drizzle soaked Holden Beach. What happened that night when Emma returned from her encounter with Will wasn´t ever mentioned again. In fact the marriage hardly ever crossed a line if Andy wasn´t there.

Finally, the weather conditions cleared up and being with the Schuester's worked for both of them. Carl would spend time with Terri and Emma with Will.

"I didn´t know you had a boat," Emma said that afternoon while sailing in the craft and the kids tried to fish on the tugged inflatable dinghy. Maybe conversation would flow easily if they talked about insignificant things. She had no idea what else to say, only feeling stupid for the terrible decisions she made in her life.

"I want to see you again," he was deft about whatever chitchat she would come out with; he wanted her, so much.

"Will…," his name went with the breeze and Emma stared at him; his eyes were clouded. "Please don´t look at me like that." _You make me want you._

He smiled and took her hand in his, "I´m sorry. It's just I can´t stop thinking about us"

"I know. Me neither. It was wrong," he feared, "So deliciously wrong"

"I really want to see you again"

"I don´t know… Carl… He… We fought when I got home the other day," she was embarrassed.

"What happened?" their bodies came closer.

"He-he started yelling at me, accusing me of cheating on him. He thinks it´s you. I can´t lose Andy," her voice broke and tears pounded her eyes. She was scared, "I just can´t, Will."

"You won´t lose him," his reassurance soothed her while curling his arm around her shoulder.

"I will if I keep seeing you"

_Please, don´t_. "How did he… know?"

"He said… I smelled different," she would omit the other details, "He went mad"

"Did he… Em, did he hurt you?" he would break him if he ever touched her.

"He didn´t hit me"

"Was he aggressive in any way?" he would kill him if he was.

"No… no. He became so… possessive," her voice was a stifled murmur; "He frightened me. I-I thought he would…"

"What?"

"He would force me," now Emma understood what her battered patients felt when confessing a domestic violence episode. She felt mortified and responsible of it. "I pushed him and slept on the couch"

"Motherfu…," his teeth clenched, "Emma you have to leave him." It wasn´t about him anymore; it was about her.

"I can´t leave him. I can´t do that to Andy"

"You think he didn´t hear what happened between you two?" she kept silent, he was right. "Having parents that hate each other and fight all the time. It´s worse than having divorced ones. I´d never treat you like that."

"Don´t say that, Will," his hands felt so good around hers, "You´re married. Thank you, though."

"So… this is it between us?" she moved her head. It wasn´t a nod nor a shake, "I want to see you again, Em. I-I felt myself burn inside you".

She breathed sharply and glanced at the kids; they were too busy playing to look at them. "It was… hot. The way you held me. I was on fire," _why am I saying all this_? "I don´t think I ever felt that way before."

"We should have done it before," he muttered hotly against the shell of her ear and nibbled softly at her earlobe.

"Yeah…," her eyelids fluttered, her neck burned, and Emma gulped. He could do wonderful and terrible things to her body.

"One more time, Em… I wanna feel you one more time". She whispered his name when feeling his fingers tracing patterns on her thigh. If it was a plea for him to stop or continue he wasn't sure; so he went with the first one. _Andy and Annie are near, what I am doing_? "I want to touch you so badly. You have always been so beautiful… so unreachable"

"Never meant to be like that," instead she had always remained pledged to the relationship they never had. And so had he.

"I know…," his voice was guttural, "but it wasn´t right to think about you like that… you were my friend"; _and it´s not right to be doing what you´re doing to your married friend_.

"I was also a woman"

"Yes… that´s why I never stopped thinking about you like that"

"Like what?" she bit her lip as his hand moved deeper between her legs.

"Like wanting to touch you all the time. To make love to you with my mouth," a soft moan escaped her lungs. "To kiss your breasts and right here," he brushed the spot where her thigh joined her hip and Emma gasped. "I bet you taste so sweet"; the heat of his low and sensual voice was like velvet to her ears-

"Will…," he was provoking her and Emma was gladly accepting and encouraging his advances. "I dreamed about you, about us, so many nights…"

"What did you dream of?"

"About me… straddling you," she was panting, her legs were quivering as tension built inside her and his fingers kept stroking her heated flesh, "and taking you in my hands," as her hand felt on his crotch and he groaned when the pressure on his arousal increased.

"God, _Emma_…"

"You are…," and then it hit her. She was shocked. They were touching, midday, with her kids playing around.

"We need to stop," he growled taking her hand off of him. _This isn´t right_.

"Sorry"

"Don´t," his eyes were darkened, "don´t apologize"

Emma smiled weakly and straightened in her seat, "Ok"

"I want to kiss you," the words vomit was relentless.

Her cheeks were on fire; he made her whole body burn. "I know. Me too"

"Maybe I should get in," Will pointed at the water, "I need to cool off"; she giggled and he jumped in and whirled slowly towards the kids.

"Hey little monsters, what are you doing?"

_A/N: I had to split this chapter in two ´cause it turned out to be longer than I originally expected. Sorry for the abrupt pause, but I´ll update soon! _


	13. Chapter 12 part II

**Here you go! Please let me know what you think… I must say again, this is AU/OCC, for those reasons remember this is not the conventional Will and Emma. =)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**XII (Pt. II)**

For three days, Andy insisted on inviting Annie and her family over for dinner. And finally, after seeing his son wouldn´t yield on his efforts, Carl gave in.

While chicken was cooking in the oven and the little boy played videogames, Emma stepped into the shower before the guests arrived. The touching session with Will had ended quite abruptly, just before things could get heated.

_What are you doing_? She kept asking herself; she was married. Carl could take Andy away if he found out.

She massaged her skull in an attempt to relax, but as minutes went by, her worries only grew inside her.

"Can I come in?" Carl´s voice emerged from the crack of the door.

"Uhm, yeah," not a real conversation had taken place since the episode two nights ago. She heard him opening the bathroom cabinet and then closing it back. _Maybe he´s brushing his hair_. But when the curtains opened and his palm rested on her naked shoulder, Emma jerked. Her eyes widened and she took a step back, her features casted with fear.

"No, Emma…," his voice was tinted with regret while coming closer, "Geez, I´m sorry. I don´t wanna hurt you. Please don´t run away."

"What do you want?" using a pathetic effort to try not to mumble.

"I´m sorry. I´m sorry I lost my mind like that… what I did to you," she didn´t know what to say, he took the opportunity to continue, "I thought you were- I´m sorry. Please say something…"

"How could you do that to me? You don´t own me Carl. I´m not your property," like if her arms would cover her entire body, she wrapped them around her chest.

"I know, I know… it´s just…," he breathed deeply and broke the distance between them, "I thought you were having an affair and you haven´t touched me in so long…"

It was a pathetic excuse; she knew it. But every spoken word was true. She was having an affair and nothing absolutely nothing had happened between the young couple in almost a month. She could tell he was frustrated; she had felt his hand sneaking under the covers, underneath her nightgown and she had pushed him away more times than she could actually recall. He didn´t deserve that, but she didn´t deserve what he had done either. There was no need for the uncontrolled violence.

"Please, Emma… let me be close to you again," her body had been tingling since she had left Will at the beach and Carl´s had been finding manual release since they had left Virginia. Probably since before. Maybe he still suspected her, but his body was hungry and so was hers. And Emma let him slide into her under the hot spell of rain. It was the first time she had sex with her husband; love-making was a far away practice. Her chest pressed on the icy tiles when he pushed hard in her and sucked the skin if the back of her neck. For an uninhibited moment, Will´s name almost left her lips when climaxing after he did and she thanked God it didn't last long. She couldn´t have handle the romantic foreplay or the post-one. Carl was panting hoarsely when kissing the corner of her parted mouth, "We still need to talk, Emma," he said wrapping a thick towel around her body.

"Yes, we have to," this wasn´t even close to reconciliation sex.

-xx-

"Dinner was amazing, Emma," Terri complemented the chef while licking her lips.

"Glad you liked it"

"We´ve never been in your house before," the blonde pointed looking around with interest, "You have a nice place"

"I want to redecorate it," Carl interrupted the small talk, "it´s a little old-fashioned"

"This is my parent´s summer house, Carl," sometimes he came across as an absolute snob and it got in to her nerves, badly.

"What do you have in mind?" Terri loved decorating; that was what she did at Sheets & Things, she advised customers. When the un-updated house´s state became the conversation topic, Emma collected the dishes and marched towards the kitchen.

"You ok?" Will´s voice snatched her back to reality while placing the dishes in the sink, "You don´t look good." Amber met hazel, "I mean you do… you look breathtaking, but you look troubled."

"I feel troubled. But thank you," she gave a quick squeeze to his hand before starting to wash the dirty plates. She washed and he dried the cutleries in silence; Terri´s and Carl´s voices reached the small kitchen, they seemed to be planning how the living would look next summer and Emma sighed.

"Sorry you had to invite us tonight," he said quietly; he didn´t want to make things worse for her but he was glad to share closeness again.

"It´s ok. I like having you around," she did. Years of cordial distance had torn them apart, but now after feeling him so close, she realized she had wished to have done this earlier, "Much better than cutting the air with a knife all the time"

"Have you guys talk?"

"No", she lied. _We fucked_. "We will when we get home. I think he wants us to get counseling. I don´t wanna hurt Andy," somehow the last part seemed like an apology for trying to fix her marriage.

"I know you don´t," gently he cupped her chin and pressed their mouths together. _You don´t wanna cause her any trouble, but you want to kiss a friend? Whose husband is in the other room chatting with your wife_? Everything seemed to be upside down. "I´m sorry," he muttered against her mouth, except he didn´t let her go. Doing so felt like so absurd and yet so necessary.

"It´s ok…," it wasn´t really; but his presence had always been soothing. That night wasn´t the exception, "Don´t apologize". A complacent grin was shared, until her voice spoke again, "Could you take the coffee to the table? I´ll finish here..."

"Sure"

-xx-

They saw each other again, confined between the covered apexes dandelions. Clandestinely, secrecy, wasn´t a recurring practice for any of them. But Emma´s marriage was characterized by making equal what was different and Will´s was a desperate attempt to keep alive something which glow had extinguished. The ardent encounters were never enough; clenched flesh, wet kisses on parted mouths, soft whispers of longing, wheedling words, heavy, hot pants and tremors. Tremors and throbs. And moans and groans. And then she would smile at him, caressing his sweaty neck. Understanding would cast his eyes although he wouldn´t understand what were they doing by skulking like that from their lives to find peace on each other´s arms. But he would do it anyway, every night, if Emma resolved it.

But she didn´t. The more she met Will, the more unbearable his absence became. And that couldn´t happen. It was unacceptable. Still, she found herself asking him, "Would you stay a little longer tonight?"

"Yes" there was no need of reflecting on the answer of her request.

"Thank you," she started buttoning her blouse back up but he stopped her, "what?"

"Lay with me," he knew it was useless; the sand would stick on their humid skin. However she complied.

"I don´t wanna go back home," she confessed snuggling in his chest. She would leave tomorrow.

He sighed, _I don´t want you to leave either_. "We´ll see each other next July"

"Will we?" she thought this was a one stand summer.

"Yeah…"

His words were unclear, though. Yes, they would see each other; but what would happen? "Wh- why are you doing this, Will?" her question disconcerted him, "Why are you putting your marriage in to jeopardy?"

"Something snapped between me and Terri," it wasn´t until now he regretted not being able to work things out with her; but the more he tried, the more the distance grew between he and his wife, "I don´t know since when, but I can´t seem to fix it"

"Do you want to?"

"For Annie´s sake, Yes. I want to. And if I can´t, well… we´ll see"

She deeply envied him; at least he knew what he wanted, "You´ll work things out"; what an irony coming from his lover; but Emma was also his friend, and wanted nothing but the best for him.

Listening to the waves splashing on the shore and his gentle stroked on the small of her back, caused her body to relax, "Don´t you fall asleep on me, Em", he teased her rubbing his hand on her a little faster.

"I won´t"

Drowsiness was finally a good deal to fight back and they left the dunes behind them. Standing under the streetlight, Will kissed Emma goodnight on the lips and she almost cried.


	14. Chapter 13

**For the people who´ve been asking for some smut… Hope to be up to your expectations!**

**Aggie**

**XIII**

She thought this would have stopped but it didn't. An affair with her best friend was never, ever, considered to be a life achievement. But there she had been; romping with him in the sand. This past July had been the most sexually active month of her year, by far.

She thought this would stop. But there she had been answering to his mid-February call and meeting him in some paltry village mid-way from Virginia and Ohio.

She thought maybe it wasn´t a good idea, especially after seeing the Motel facilities. But there she had been, humping on him in the backseat of his car. All the counseling sessions with Carl were a complete waste, only a patching up a huge hole.

-xx-

Will appreciated Emma´s white skin that summer. She was as pale as she was in February and as emotionally drained as the last time they met.

"Emma, you look awfully tired," Terri observed after a week of their stay, "You haven´t sleep well, have you?"

Her close ended question allowed her to nod and skipped the explanations, but as usual, Carl was nosy, "She´s been tossing and turning in bed since forever."

"Oh, what´s wrong?" Emma wished there was at least a trace of heartlessness in Terri, but there wasn´t.

"Nothing´s wrong, I´ve been a little stressed out lately," she glimpsed at Will, who was silently playing with Andy and Annie. She knew he knew. _If I only wasn´t that transparent_.

"Well, relax, Emma… why don´t you go for walks at night? Will does it all the time and it really helps him."

Terri was so naïve. Emma felt sorry for her and Carl jolted. The last thing they needed was to spend more time apart.

"Uhm, I don´t know…," her hesitancy only brought Will to join the conversation.

"You could join me any time you want, Em… It´s not like I go jogging across the shore…"

"Ok… Some night," she nodded. Maybe the 'some' would sound vague and he wouldn´t ask her again. But he did when they were alone.

"Come, Em…," he solicited kindly, fighting with the impulse of taking her hand. He had missed her, so much. That was why he had called her that cold afternoon; because the urge to see her had proved to be stronger than he thought.

"Are you sure it´s a good idea?" it wasn´t really, they both knew it and he chuckled.

"Not really, but I wanna see you. Please…?"

"Maybe we should wait until Carl leaves…," she didn´t want to revive what had happened between her and her husband. She was certain he would round the bend again at the slightest suspect. And she was conscious she shouldn´t be measuring her action based on apprehension.

"You´re right"

-xx-

Carl wasn´t so pleased when after a few nights, Emma mentioned she was going out.

"Where?"

"For a walk, Carl," she hung her purse on her shoulder, "I need a walk", and she needed to get out of the house. Between Carl being behind her all the time and Andy asking the reason for her blue mood Emma was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Emma, what´s wrong? What´s going on? I thought we were doing ok…," his voice was filled with concern.

"I-I… I need fresh air and me-time," she didn´t want to cry in front of him again. Enough weeping he had endured through the counseling sessions.

"Ok… But, Emma, please don´t push me away"

She already had and smiled weakly before closing the door behind her.

The rock was sort of wet when she sat on it; the air fouled with humidity every time a wave splashed on the breakwater and splattered near her. The dunes were no place for her that night. If Will had decided to wander around the beach, she was certain he would be there and wasn´t sure if she would be fond of seeing him.

There was someone strolling across the slippery rocks above her and the she heard a voice singing and a thump on the sand.

"_I crawl to you baby and I follow your feet I found you beauty like a dog in heat_… Em?" he held his pace as soon as he noticed her there.

"Will…W-what are you doing here?"

"You came…," he was hoped and walked towards her.

"No… I, uhm, just needed to get out of there," she budged nervously on the rock.

"Are you ok?"

"_Terrific,_" she hated using irony with him and hated herself more after seeing the look on his face.

"What´s going on? Why are you here?"

She sighed and rubbed her temple, "I needed some me-time"

"What´s going on?" he re-asked taking a seat next to her. Their shoulders brushed against one another.

"I can´t stop thinking what a terrible mistake we´re making…"

"Em…"

"I can´t stop thinking I´m cheating on my husband and then I go to him and tell him 'I love you'. I can´t stop thinking I should push you away, but can´t stop thinking about every night we spent together. I can´t stop thinking about you when I am in bed with him. I do," she was honest and embarrassed, "I think about you when I sleep with him. And I hate myself. I can´t stop thinking I'm lying to him by telling him we can work things out. I honestly don´t know. I just don´t know…"

"Do you want me to stay?"

_Yes, stay. Please stay_. "Me-time means time with myself, Will."

He flinched and stepped off the stone, his eyebrows furrowed. _She needs me-time but she is saying all those things. Why_? "Ok… I´ll leave then," he began walking away but declared over his shoulder without stopping, "I know it´s easier to mull over things instead of actually doing stuff… but you can´t spend your life thinking"

Emma watched him, "What?" she had heard him; perfectly, "Is that coming from a man who has a family too? And who´s doing nothing about it? Are you serious?" she jumped off the seat as well and called his name when he ignored her last question, "I´m talking to you, god damn it!"

"What? What do you want?" he spit the words to her.

"I want you to answer me!"

"Why are you attacking me? You´re the one who´s freaking out… This _thing_ between us isn´t conflicting me in any way…," it was a blatant lie; he was restlessly thinking about her. He had no idea what to do with his marriage; he had no idea if he should give it another try or just give up on it. But she didn´t have to know that.

"This _thing_?" she repeated his words incensed, "I´m on the bull's eye here and you think this is just some '_thing_'?"

"I thought you made that very clear when I called you on February"

She remembered herself back then, saying summer was the only right time to meet; but he didn´t understand her words. "You have no clue… About anything," she gnashed her teeth walking away from him and then immediately returning. "You know… if this is some random thing come here and fuck me," his eyes snatched open, "That´s what you´ve been doing after all. You´ve had been fucking a depressed woman. So come here and fuck me, ´cause you just put the cherry on top of a perfect day"

Her loutish manners paralyzed him. Curses had never flown past her lips before and he knew right there, he wasn´t the only one who had been lying.

"So what? Are you gonna do something besides treating me like a piece of meat?" she was on the edge of tears, the knot in her throat barely let her speak.

"I won´t fuck you," he broke the distance between them.

"Oh wow, I hurt your feelings? Guess what? You´ve just hurt mine-"

"I know," the warmth of his arms enveloped her infuriated body. Only a few seconds were needed for her to relax, "You´re not a random thing to me, Em. You´re, geez, I don´t even know what you are, but you keep me awake at night"

She sniffed upon his chest and he kissed the top of her head, "Why did you say those things if you didn´t mean-?"

"I don´t know, shit, I don´t know," his grip around her tightened, "I´m sorry… I´m sorry." He had no idea what to say to make Emma stop crying. Knowing he was the reason of the tears streaming down her face caused his heart to ache. "Why did you ask me to leave if you didn´t want me to, Em?" by the way she relaxed under his embrace, he could tell she had lied.

"I don´t know… I don´t know anything anymore," her fists rubbed her wet eyes, "I know I should push you away; I know how much you hated it when we were young. Would you, would you stay with me for a while?"

"Yes," he would stay with her the entire night.

"Thank you," a sweet smile appeared on her face when she looked up at him. As he always did he lifted her chin up to bring her lips to his.

"I really miss you," he whispered against her mouth, "and I know what your answer will be, but can we see each other again?"

"Ok"

"Really?" a straight answer wasn´t expected.

"Yes. Here, on Wednesday?"

-xx-

"Is everything ok with Terri?" Emma asked Wednesday night. The blonde woman hadn´t been looking very cheery lately.

"Erm, yeah… sort of"

"Is she ok with us getting together?" she had heard about the little encounter they had three nights ago.

"Yes… she thinks it´s good for me. I´m happier when I´m with you." She blushed intensely and looked away with embarrassment. "I am," gently he took her shoulders to face her.

"I´m happier when I´m with you too. When I'm with you all my worries float away. Carl said it the other night… I don´t know if it was an in-between line message or if he really thinks so. I don´t know him anymore"

He didn´t want to hear Carl´s name again, not even wanted to pronounce Terri´s. They had been talking about Annie and Andy for the past hour and it caused guilt to crawl inside him. As if a kiss would mend that, he captured her upper lip with tenderness and Emma smiled on his mouth.

"I like this new place you found," he said planting wet pecks on her face.

"I like the dunes more, but people have been trashing them. It´s cleaner here"

"It´s wetter too," his voice was thick on the shell of her ear and Emma nodded.

"Yeah…." The cloth they had placed on the rock rucked when he dropped himself off it to position himself between her legs. A small wave dared to reach his bare feet. "The tide is growing," her breath was low and heavy as his palms scooped her behind to the border of the stone.

"Chicken," he teased her and Emma giggled while bringing him closer. The buttons of her blouse opened under his ministrations, the clip of her bra snapped, and it fell on her lap. "You´re so so gorgeous. I´ll never get tired of saying it," the glow of her white skin hypnotized him and Will buried his face in between her breasts. He was licking, nibbling, sucking softly on every patch of exposed flesh. Involuntary, her hips bucked on his; he always aroused a greedy feeling in her. Rushed greed. He turned her on. Slowly, his lips traveled south, discovering the suavity of her surface; her ribs, her navel felt exquisite. He couldn´t have possible stopped his hands for toying with the hem of her skirt. She gasped and bucked on him again; and then his hands were sneaking underneath the flowered cloth and sliding her panties down her legs. He dared to stimulate the region of hot flesh with the tip of his thumb and Emma whined.

"Please, Will…," she hummed. He chuckled at how defenseless and beautiful she looked; he could reduce her to incoherence with so little. A kiss on her knee, then another one on her thigh and then he cupped her behind and plunged his mouth in her desire for him. She moaned, loud, "Oh-G-goodness…!" She arched her back when his tongue run down and up on her and his hot breath sending vibes across her body. She felt herself growing wet. The pressure of his mouth on her core was divine, and Will sucked her bundle of nerves. "Will!" she cried as electricity shook her insides for an exquisite second and she arched her back again, and then forward; his mouth never stopped moving against her. "Oh, gosh…," her pants were feverish, her hips moved to find the so wanted release, "Please, Will, just…Urgggh," suddenly his finger entered without hesitation and immediately he pulled it out to taste her on his flesh.

"I knew you would taste sweet," the tone of his voice was sensual, so hoarse Emma could do nothing but whimper at the feeling of his distance. "I could do this to you forever, Em…"

"Oh please, don´t stop," the splashing waves covered her enthusiastic groans and he let himself sink amid her thighs for a second time. Her body was practically dancing over the rock, her chopped pants were the missing melody and Will entered her once again. Her legs tensed on his shoulders, her calves pushed him forward. He felt her getting tighter and right away, he pulled off. "W-why did you stop?" her annoyed voice brought a chuckle out of him.

"Because I don´t want you to finish without me"

"Inconsiderate," she teased him and bit her lip when he pressed his evident erection on her center.

"See what you do to me? How am I supposed to hold on when you are doing all that?" His sultry breath smelled like her and Emma kissed him, hard and forcefully while peeling his pants and boxers off him.

"I want you inside me," the command didn´t seem to subtract from the sweetness of her voice.

It wasn´t as fast and restless as it was just minutes ago. He moved within her with steady accord and closing his lips around her nipple when her head fell back. The softness of her skin allured him; all that whiteness, all those freckles. He was strong while pumping in to her; her body shivered and chilled; the reckless abandonment was nearly chest-oppressing. A moan broke free and her elbows wobbled while supporting her weight.

"Emma…," he puffed her name; his breathing had become erratic since he had thrust inside her for the first time, "Oh, Emma…" he pushed deeper and swiveled above her, rubbing their hips together and she clutched around him.

"Urghh…," the first signal of her forthcoming orgasm reached his ears and he repeated his movement. Emma contracted again, writhing underneath him, "Urgh, Will…," she kept whining, crying his name against his mouth. And then she froze, but her insides collapsed violently. Pushing him with her calves, she brought him to her one last time, to make him spill in her and to finally tumble on her waving chest. The humidity of the air caused their bodies to be stickier than they were supposed to be.

"I- uhm, wow…," she wheezed running her fingers through his curls, "I haven´t done _that_ in a long time."

"Really?" his voice sounded sort of startled.

"Yes… what you did, with your mouth... was…," she shied away and he snickered.

"I´ do it every day," a kiss was placed on her collarbone after every pronounced word and a red hot blush crept up her neck, "Seriously. Every morning before you go to work and every night after burying me in you"

"Stop…," her palms coated her embarrassed face. A 30 year old woman and a mother, feeling so much embarrassment. He chuckled softly again and nested his face in the valley of her breasts, caressing her nipple while she relaxed beneath him.

_AN: I had to part this in two ´cause it turned out much longer than I originally expected. Please let me know what you think! =) _


	15. Chapter 13 Pt II

**Second part of chapter XIII, people… Sorry for to be splitting chapters like this… **

**Thanks a lot to Nicole for being my beta! Feedback is always appreciated **

**Aggie**

XII pt. II

That occasion, Carl Howell saw the sun rising less than usual. He left on the 9th day. Duty calls, he had claimed before placing a quick peck on Emma´s cheek ('_Her cheek? Seriously? You´re gonna see her in twenty days and you kiss her cheek?'_) and returning to the house to get a fast shower and the luggage.

His absence made everything easy for Will. It made everything more pleasant too; Emma was usually glum when he was around, even Annie noticed her mood swap. The rest of the summer was glorious. Andy missed his dad, but he had the most amount of fun with Will and Annie. Everything was clandestine bliss; that was until someone knocked on Emma´s door.

The clock had just turned 11. Andy was deeply asleep, then there was some ironing she would do in the morning and Terri was standing on her living, looking like she's a been walking since 10.

"Te-Terri, what are you doing here? Are you ok?" the red head moved the dried clothes so the nervous woman could take a seat.

"I- no. Emma, I-I´m sorry for coming like this so late," she was blubbering.

"Where´s Will and Annie?"

"At home"

"Ok, calm down… let me bring you a glass of water," she rushed into the kitchen and returned with a cold drink. "Here..." The blonde didn´t touch the glass, instead she just fixed her eyes on the floor, "Terri, what´s going on?"

"I, erm, Will and I argued… I started yelling at him. An-Annie was there…," her hands swaddling her mouth made it difficult for Emma to understand, "I-I… Emma I don´t think Will loves me anymore."

Swallowing a watermelon would have been easier than digesting her words. "Wh- Terri of course he does…," she had no idea what to say; a layer of unnerving sweat covered her entire body. "W-what makes you think that?"

"Emma…," Terri trailed looking at her. She knew. And Emma panicked. "Please…." Her cheeks turned as red as her hair and gulped; even though her mouth wasn't dry. "You´ve been his sweetheart forever…," she sniffed and struggled to recompose herself, "I-I thought it was a platonic thing-"

"Terri I-"

"Please back off, Emma…," she begged with pitiful eyes, "Just let him come back home."

If she was being honest or appealing for mercy, Emma didn´t know. The only thing she was aware right then, was that her heart hammering in her chest was so hard it hurt. Her ears buzzed and her body was glacial.

"Terri, I´m not… There´s nothing between Will and I," coming up with that could only confirm her suspicions; but the fair-haired woman was clueless.

"I don´t know that. I could believe you or not… What´s the difference? He´s not the same man I married. I want him back…," she dried her tears with her sleeve and continued, "I don´t know what to do."

"Terri…," Emma breathed long and deeply. The image of the heartbroken woman in front of her eyes was heartrending. Could she destroy a family? No. Definitely not. She wouldn´t. "Please don´t cry. Will loves you. He does. But he´s been feeling… weird lately…"

"He told you that?"

"Yes," it was a lie; and not a white one, but she most certainly wouldn´t let him ruin his marriage. And if Terri was playing her, she was doing a good job at it. She could have threatened her to tell Carl. But she didn´t, her manner Emma appreciated from the bottom of her heart. "He did. Terri, go back to him. Everything it´s going to be fine, ok?" The woman nodded weakly and stood up. "Do you want to go freshen up?" she repeated the same gesture and came back a few moments later with no tears, but redden eyes.

"Thank you," she muttered. The real meaning of the words materialized when she hugged Emma and left the house.

Yes, everything would be fine. It had to be.

-xx-

Their voices rose above the sound of the slashing waves. The ocean was wild and so were their words.

"We can´t keep doing this, Will. We just can´t, ok?" she had been saying that for the last ten minutes.

"Why? Why not?" he was being childish; but her argument was unacceptable.

"Just because"

"You told me you were happier with me," he didn´t understand. It was like the last few weeks were spent with a completely different Emma, "You told me you think of me when-"

"I know what I said. I do. But why can´t you understand this is my choice?" _tears off, tears off_.

"It´s my choice too!" he yelled stepping closer, "I want to be with you. I want to know you"

"You know me, Will," his passion was overwhelming and she shuddered at his next words.

"I wanna know more. I wanna know which color is your favorite nightgown, on which part of your body you apply your lotion first, I wanna know if you´re grumpy in the morning and what intrigues you, what drives you insane"

"Don´t do this, please," hanging her bag on her shoulder and closing the zipper was a signal she was about to leave. She couldn´t handle looking at him with the misery in his eyes, "You´ll lose your family"

"I don´t care!" he was infatuated with her; his obsession didn´t let him comprehend what he was really saying.

It was crazy. And maybe she was being neurotic by letting guilt eat her up; but he was being thoughtless and irresponsible. There were kids involved. They could lose everything; be left with nothing but blame and she wouldn't live with that; she wouldn´t let Will do that and then regret it for the rest of his life; "I do! And I´ll told you… I might lose Andy. Will, I can´t leave with that"

"We can do this, Em… I…," the sea would give him some inspiration, "….I´ll leave Terri"

"No", her voice was stern, "I don´t want you to give up Annie"

He growled, her words were preposterous, and spoke with accusation, "Why did you come to me? Why did you start all of this if you have no intention of finishing it?"

"Will, that´s not-"

"Fair?" he completed the sentence for her, "Well, guess what? What you did wasn´t fair either! You thought you could just drown your sorrows with me?"

"No! Never… Will, listen, please," she cupped his face with her palms and felt the warmth of his flesh, "You know what I'm trying to say. Don´t get mad and crazy, please… If I did what I did was because I needed to be close to you. And you needed too. That´s why you complied and the reason you´re getting upset now. But Will… we both knew. We know this can´t be more complicated. You´ll leave Terri and then what? What if I solve my problems with Carl?"

"You don´t love Carl," he pointed sadly.

He was right, "I love Carl. Not like before, but I can´t destroy my son´s childhood for something I don´t know what it is. And you can´t either"

"I could still see you… you could see me," he was desperate while trying not to let her go.

"No, Will. We can´t. Not now."

"I could call you. I promise-"

"Don´t. Don´t promise to promise calling or looking for me," she cried as tears came down her face. It was so long since she last shed tears for lost lovers.

"Why are you crying? Why do you cry if you are the one making this decision for both of us?" His eyes were glossy, so glossy Emma could see herself in them.

"Because I see you looking at me like that… It breaks my heart. I don´t wanna hurt you. Please don´t hate me. Understand me"

"I don´t hate you. But I can´t understand you"

They were silent for a while, breathing low, trying to find the strength to recompose themselves.

"Now what?" it was his voice the one being heard first.

"I leave now," her mouth pursed.

"I mean us. What about us?"

"We´ll be Will and Emma, like always."

"You know we´ve been more than that for years," he didn´t mean friendship.

"But it´s all we can be for now on."

_A/N: Sorry for the angst! But this had to be done eventually. Don´t worry, tho! Things WILL get better, I promise. Next update will be here as soon as possible! _


	16. Chapter 14

**XIV**

She had never been in Lima before. For the little she knew about it, the city seemed to be like one lost town in the remote Ohio. Narrow but slightly congested streets, casual-dressed people, unaware children playing on the residential sidewalks. Next to West Virginia, Virginia, and even Cleveland, Lima seemed more like her home than any other town. For a thirty-three year old woman, she had moved a lot.

_What are you doing here_? Why was she there? Her fingers drummed the wheel nervously, her palms sweated. She lost her way once, trying to find his address; _maybe it´s a signal for me to go back home_. But she wouldn´t turn around. Gathering the courage to take the car and drive all the way there had taken her more than three months. She couldn´t chicken out now.

Pulling over near the parking space, Emma turned the engine off and gazed at her reflection in the rear-view mirror. Time had crept up on her; only three years and her eyes looked older, some expression lines had printed her forehead. Maybe he would think she still looked young. Maybe he would still open the door for her. Maybe he would still see what used to be the round contour of her face under the too short hair. Or maybe he would tell her to leave and never come back.

_Why are you even here_? An old tarnished Christmas postcard with his signature on the back reminded her why. She had missed him. But it didn´t make much sense; _what do you want from him_? He had occupied her mind since the precise moment she asked him to back off. _Whatever he wants is fine_. She just wanted him back in her life. But perhaps that was asking too much. It's been three years since they last spoke to each other.

The house was trimmed, the little front yard neat, yet somehow uninspired. There were some flowers missing.

After fighting with herself for minutes, she forced her hand to knock on the wooden door. There were people inside, she could tell by the footsteps and the dragging furniture sound. No one opened. _Maybe he saw me through the peep hole_. She hesitated before knocking again. It would be second and the last time she would. There was definitely someone inside.

Finally the door opened. And Emma froze, "Hello, can I help you?" the young woman standing before her was kindly smiling at her. By the absence of wrinkles on her face, Emma could have sworn she wasn´t even in her middle twenties.

"I, uhm, yes… Is t-this Will Schuester´s house?" _he is living with someone? With some pretty practically a girl_. Turning around and leaving was a far away prospect now.

"Yes, who are you?"

_Why do you take so much time to answer_? "I´m… Emma… I was a friend of Will... years ago… I was wondering-"

"Hey, Sarah, who is it?" his voice sounded near, but was out of sight. "I´m not buying any encyclopedias…," his head poked out to see her standing in the covered entrance and the door opened wide. "Emma…"

"Hi…," she removed the hair off her face and Will watched her.

Her hair was shorter, just a tad above her narrow shoulders. Skinny as always, her body had found the balance between slenderness and stylized. "You…"

"I´ll be inside…," the woman announced before disappearing inside. None of them invited her to come in.

_Surely, it was a great idea to come_.

"Emma? What are you doing here?"

"Hi… Will… how are you?" He stayed there, looking at her in shock; he would have never expected to see Emma in Lima. "I'm sorry I didn´t call before," she explained seeing he wasn´t replying, "I didn´t have your number and you weren´t in the directory… I only had this address from that postcard you sent me, remember?" She was nervous and there was no stopping the rambling, "for Christmas… It was very nice… Uhm…," she gulped and looked at him. His expression confused her, "maybe… maybe I should go. You´re with someone and I don´t wanna interrupt- Bye, Will," she gave him a quick smile before holding her bag tightly against her belly and turning around to walk away.

"Wait…," his fist griped her wrist to prevent her from leaving, "Come in," he invited softly.

"Will, you´re obviously busy," her eyes travelled to the ajar door and he chuckled.

"Sarah? She helps me with the house, that´s all…"

Her lips shaped a small circle, "Oh… I thought you and her…"

"Don´t you think she´s a little young for me?" there was a little room for teasing and Emma smiled weakly. She was young, almost ten years younger; just like Emma when she married Carl.

"Well… I don´t know… maybe," coyly she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her beauty amazed him. If he had known she could arouse those feeling in him just by standing there, he would have asked her to leave. Instead, he was kind while inviting her inside. Spending two years as a bachelor taught him it was a family what he wanted most of all. He had one, though; he loved his daughter but he had naively believed in fairy tales (and still did) and longed to get that sensation back. He wanted to be a full-time dad.

He left Emma alone for a moment while preparing some drinks and his heart speed raced. She looked nervous, just like that young inexperienced girl she used to be and his chest ached with melancholy. "Here…," a cup of tea was deposited in her hands.

"Thank you," her smile caused her face to glow with that old familiar glow she had when she was only eight-teen. "I like your house," she said quietly looking around. It was simple; it could use some flowers, maybe happier curtains to match with Annie´s pictures on the mantelpiece and shelves.

"There are some missing details I should work on," it was like he could read her mind, "What are you doing her-"

"Mr. Schu- I´m sorry, didn´t mean to…"

"It´s ok, Sarah," the girl glanced at the red hair facing the fireplace, but Will made no introductions, "Listen, do you mind coming back tomorrow? The same time?"

"Erm, sure… I haven´t finished Annie´s room, though"

"Don´t worry; I´ll finish it myself"

"Ok… then I´ll see you tomorrow. Bye!" the girl smiled to Emma, gathered her things and left.

Silence and then his voice again, "What are you doing here, Em?"

She shied away and chewed on her inner lip, anxiously. The tea was too hot to drink. "I, uhm…," she straightened in her seat.

"Virginia´s a long drive from here…"

"I´m not living in Virginia anymore. I moved. To Cleveland," he was quiet, "a year ago or so"

"Where´s Andy?"

"At a friend´s house. He´s spending the night there"

Will shook his head; maybe he had misinterpreted her words. Yes that was probably it, _why do you blush, you moron_? "How´s Carl?"

"I don´t know… Fine, I guess. He probably got his job back in Miami," he didn´t understand, "I left him. It´s been three years now. Now have been divorced for one." Somehow she seemed proud of herself, "And I left Virginia"

"I´m sorry, Emma," _Are you_? _Really_? For her, he was; she had been a tightrope walker since Andy was seven.

"It´s over now. They weren´t the happiest years, but it´s ok. I´m glad we´re not together anymore," her reassuring smile proved she was telling the truth. Staring at her with more attentiveness, he noticed her changed air. She looked revitalized, and yet sort of lonely. "I got a good job in Cleveland, Andy´s made some new friends. We´re doing fine"

"I´m happy for you," she smiled weakly and took a sip of her tea, "You haven´t told me why you are here," he pointed out and she nodded.

"I know"

"You said we shouldn´t see each other again," his voice was soft in contrast with his bitter words, "You made me promise I wouldn´t call you or go find you"

"I know… I made that promise to myself too, Will"

"And now you´re here. What if Terri was here?" They were making the same mistakes. And he was a hypocrite, because he would make them over and over again if it led him to Emma.

"I knew she wouldn´t be... Your father told me about your divorce," his attempts to see right in to her eyes failed when her gape lowered to the carpet covered floor, "I waited a year to come. Don´t think I don´t know what you´re going through. I´m really sorry, Will. I feel so guilty," she finally confessed.

"Don´t," the warm of his palm comforted the shaky surface of the top of her hand, and she dared to meet his gape.

"Terri knew," she simply put, "Terri knew what was going on… between us… she came to me a complete mess and asked for advice. It wasn´t fair… That´s why I said those things to you"

"Emma, no-"

"Will my marriage was already dead… what right did I have to screw up yours too?"

_Terri went to see you_? He had no idea and wished she had told him about this before. But time hadn't been right. "I called your name once"

"Wh-"

"While being with her"

"What?" Emma felt her ears burn. _You couldn´t possibly have_…

"The winter after that winter we… you know. Nothing worked since then and after a year it was over."

"Oh, Gosh… Terri…," she couldn´t believe it, "Will, I'm- I don´t know what to say."

"You don´t have to say anything".

She sighed; a deep long breath escaped her lungs, "How´s Annie?" maybe that would break the ice. She desperately needed to release the tension caused by his eyes fixed on her so intensely.

"She´s fine…," Will spoke sort of quickly; they would have time for that later, "she´s having some problems at school… I see her almost every day and we spend two weekends a month together. It´s more time than we spent when we lived together"

"That´s good… I´m glad you can still see her. A child should spend time with its father…," she remembered Carl and how little time he was around Andy.

"Yeah… I got half custody so she comes here very often. She's coming tonight."

"I´m sorry," she was, for little Annie.

"What are you doing here?" he didn´t bother to wait for a silent minute to pass. He just needed to know. _Do you want to apologize? Do you want to tell me you miss me? Do you want me?_

"I thought… maybe we could go out and have a cup of coffee," she blushed deeply as she turned her head away.

"Like a date?" his body leaned forward, desperately trying to feel her warmth.

"I don´t know… like going out and having a cup of coffee," _Yes, like a date_. "I haven't seen you in so long…," that was why she was there. Because she wanted to see him, desperately.

If she was there to give explanations, he didn´t care. His hopes he had were high and suddenly they faded away. "You´ve seen me," he was hot and cold, without distinction.

She stared at him, hurt. She had thought he would be more understanding, but he was being far from that. "You could have said so the minute you saw me outside instead of asking me in," she stood up and grabbed her purse. "I just wanted to see you… And talk to you…," her eyes were lost but her feet were already walking her towards the front door, "I shouldn´t have come."

"Wait"

She stopped but didn´t turn around; the quietness of the house allowed her to ask something she had been dying to, "Am I the reason you´re so bitter?"

"Wh-"

"For some time I blamed you… for not doing what you wanted. What I wanted. Then I blamed myself for making all those mistakes… Now there´s no one to blame. I can´t find anyone… Can you?"

"No… I don´t blame you," she was right. She had been right all of this time, but hurt had clouded his mind for so long and he thanked her for pushing him away. He could have lost Annie. What kind of father would he have been? What kind of friend would try to take a friend away from her daughter? It was madness. _What did you expect her to do? Run away with you_? This wasn´t a soap opera. They had responsibilities. Still do. But she was there. "And you´re not the reason I´m this bitter," he walked closer and took his jacket, her puzzled eyes tracked his movements, "I´d like that coffee… if you still do"

"Ok…"

"I´m sorry," he muttered before locking the door, "I´m just… I´m confused"

"Why?"

"Never, not in a million years, did I think I'd see you again," the streets were lonely as they marched downtown. The withered leafs rustled under their unhurried pace.

They sat there and talked about what they had thought it would be like to meet again; a lot of water had flowed under the bridge, but there were still so many unsolved feelings. Emma told him about her divorce, about how long it took because Carl wanted half custody he wouldn´t use. Now it´s easy, she had declared with a light intake on breath, because she hadn´t had to deal with her ex-husband´s objections, but Andy had suffered a lot the first months. She asked about Annie, if she was ok with the separation. She was, Will had declared, but she was having problems at school now, probably because of it. The little girl had asked about Emma, pleading she remembered when they used to build sandcastles on the seashore.

"Are you seeing someone back in Cleveland?" his query caught her unaware but she shook her head.

"You?"

"No"

They smiled. Old memories were stirring up, a different situation, with so many similarities.

The wind was chilly and Emma held her cup against her chest, to warm up.

"Are you cold?"

A sweet grin and another shake of head was her reply. She wasn´t really; the airstream was sort of refreshing. "I like it here…," the park was ochre and grey, quiet, silent, "I never came to Lima before," she could come again.

"It´s nothing really special-"

"Willy boy!" someone called his name and they both revolved on the bench.

"Shannon!" Will shook his hand and the woman approached them with merry pace, "what are you doing here?"

"Working out a little…," her little bright eyes glanced at Emma and returned back to Will with a devilish expression.

"Shan, this is Emma," the proper introduction was made, "Shannon is a co-worker and very good friend of mine"

"Hi, it´s nice to meet you"

"So you´re Emma, uh?" the woman shook her hand and sent a nearly imperceptible wink to her friend. It didn´t come unnoticed by anyone present and Will blushed.

"Uh-huh," everything was slightly baffling, but Emma was certain about one thing. _He talked about me_? And by the way his face was burning, she was sure only good things had been told.

"Well, I won´t take up any more of your time… I'll see you at school, Willo. It was nice meeting you, Emma!"

She left them alone; his eyes settled on some random tree. Wishing he could hide behind it until the color would disappear from his face; Emma´s lips curved in an indulged grin.

"Em, do you-," he found her still smiling and the words got stuck in his throat. _Welcome back, blush_.

"She knew about me…," it was something in between a question and an affirmation. Her eyes were large, her eyelashes batted. And he said nothing, he found himself lost in her auburn gaze. "You told her about me?"

"No"

Her giggles were contagious and she used her shoulder to slightly push his, "What did you tell Shannon?"

"I, erm…," _You´re blubbering! Why are you blubbering_? Her head tilted aside, encouraging him and Will cleared his throat, "I told her… You are the reason I didn´t sleep at night," her smile disappeared from her lips.

Her chest tickled, her breath was heavy. And she licked her lips. "I…"

"It´s late, Em…," he had said too much and now she was speechless; he wouldn´t push her in to anything because it would be the end. He didn´t want it to end. _Ass. William, you ass_.

It was six. The sun was setting. And Emma was worried. She didn´t want to leave.

"I, uhm… Thank you for the coffee," her purse was in his house so she had to go in to get it.

"Any time"

"We could…," she trailed shyly, trying to conceal the pain the departure caused her, "We could go out for some dinner"

"Like a date?" he asked for the second time that day.

"Like going out for dinner," _Yes, like a date. Why don´t you just ask him out and stop with this?_

"And then what? What happens next?" _Are we doing this for the rest of our lives_? He didn´t want to.

"I don´t know…," it seemed like that was the only thing she could say, "We could stay together a little longer," she felt like she was walking on eggshells.

Will was tired, and as tired as he was he cupped her chin and brought her lips to his. He had been holding himself back the entire afternoon. It was an unhurried, soft and longed kiss. He could have hugged her forever. But forever wouldn´t work. She would leave. So he let her go.

"I, uhm…"

"Sorry…," he was a fake while apologizing. He wasn´t sorry at in the least bit; he was sorry for himself.

"It´s ok… I…," her fingers brushed the spot where his lips had been moments ago, "I don´t mind…," and her eyes locked with his, "I really don´t mind, Will". _Kiss me again_.

"You´ll be gone," he fell on the couch, sadness tinting his voice. She would be gone and with dejection he caressed the angle of her chin when she sat beside him, "I won´t see you"

"I, uhm," _swallow, breath_, "I could come more often, or you could come see me."

_Is she_?

"That would be nice," the red head added seeing he was saying nothing.

"You´d come?" she nodded, "And you would spend the weekend with me?"

She gulped, "Every time I could," she had Andy.

"And you´d receive me at your place? Although Andy´s gonna be there?"

"Yes"

"Because I don´t want to just sleep with you, you know?"

"You don´t?" she was sort of surprised. If he wanted to, she would have agreed anyway. She really needed him.

"I mean I do. But I´d really miss you afterwards," his voice suddenly lost all its smoothness, "So if you´re gonna stay tonight and then fly, you better fly now because I don´t-"

Her index finger shushed him, "I miss you, very much." The most beautiful smile curved Will´s lips and he took her hands in his again. He stared at her. The auburn of her eyes matching her hair, the freckled printing on her nose; she was so beautiful he could only sigh. "Would you… kiss me, Will?" her body bending forward so slightly brought a chuckle out of him.

"I don´t know… you´ve been so rude interrupting me…"

She giggled, "I´m sorry I interrupted you, but you were saying nonsense. Kiss me again, Will," her voice was charming and he pressed her mouth to hers as she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. It was a long time since she had done that; so long since a man had touched her.

"I´ll tell Terri not to bring Annie tonight," he mumbled against her lips, "I wanna spend time alone with you."

She breathed heavily, not realizing how tightly she was fisting the neckline of his shirt, "Ok"

The phone call was made as she remained like that, bent forward, clasping the cloth in her hands securely, afraid he might run away, staring in his eyes sweetly. He hung up and brought her to him. "I can´t believe you're here," the confession dampened the white skin of her neck.

"I can´t believe I'm here," his hands did marvelous things to her body, pressing her harder on his laying figure, kissing her with nostalgia, "Will…," his name made his movements cease.

"Yes?"

"We need protection this time… I'm not on the pill anymore…", another unexpected pregnancy would be the last straw.

"Of course"

"And… uhm, can we go to your bedroom? We´ve never, uhm…"

"I know. I wanna be with you in my bed, properly. But I want to be close to you," the waves of her chest were uneven on his, "We have all night for us…"

"I know"

"Let´s not speak, Em," he was tender as placing a peck on her nose.

"Ok"

They kissed, long and deeply. He had missed the way her mouth moved against his, the way her tongue twirled with his, dawdling and lingering, and then fleeting and hungrily. The way she gently pulled away to look into his eyes to bury herself on him again; the way she breathed erratically on his ear every time he thrusted in her.

He paid special attention to her neck, to her hair line, to her strong hips beneath him; his fingers caressed her soft skin, touched the heated flesh between her legs and Emma rewarded him by purring his name hotly. He made her body jerk and hot while tossing their wrapped figures around the untidy sheets.

"Will…," her moans increased volume as his pushes became shorter, faster. Her legs swathed his moving hips and she rocked up forth, meeting his efforts to satisfy her.

"Em…," he groaned, "feels good?" his arms were tingling. He had been on top of her since they had moved to the bedroom an hour ago, but he wanted to watch her come undone.

"Yes…," she was panting low as she pushed on his behind to push him deeper inside her. She was close, "I´ve missed you"

"Me too"

"I wanted to see you…," she cried as her back arched sharply and her insides shook.

"I wanted to feel you," her body was contorting as an orgasm hit her and he pushed in her heated core, prolonging her state of ecstasy for a few more divine seconds.

"Will!" his name had never sounded so sensual coming out of her lips and he came, shaking, growling against her parted mouth. Their wet breaths mixing upon each other; sweat between their legs, on their lower abdomens, on heated spots that had been hotly rubbing together across their sizzling bodies.

_AN: Told you the angst would be worth it! What do you think? Hold your horses, this is not over yet! Reviews are lovely! _

_Aggie _


	17. Chapter 15

**So you´re enjoying these last chapters! **

**Wanna thank Nicole (ma1teo) for helping me with this. =) **

**XV**

"Will!" Andy cried his name as he was shaking a little sign he had made, "Here! We´re here!" the little boy run towards him and dropped the sign to hug him.

"Hey, buddy! How are you? You´ve grown! Shame on you," Andy laughed and gave him one last squeeze before releasing him. The boy had certainly grown; he was at least 4 inches taller than the last time he had seen him; the same freckles adorning Emma´s nose did the same with his.

"Had a good trip?"

"I got bored! But I had my IPod, so it wasn´t that bad…." Eventually, after weekends of comfortably receiving Emma at his place, he resolved it was time for him to go to her. After she proposed the idea, it took a month to get everything ready; it hadn´t been easy. There had always been something meddling. Work…Terri…apprehension.

Emma watched him squatting, carefully listening to her son talk and soon their eyes met; her chest engorged and his lips curved with a sweet smile. It felt like they hadn´t seen each other in ages.

"And then mum drove here. We had to leave Frankie in the backyard because he always bites the couch and mum gets so angry with him…," Will chuckled as Andy grabbed his small luggage and started his way to the car, thinking Will would follow him. Instead, he remained there and Emma went to him.

"Hi," her voice was soft, like a velvet caress.

"Hi," they smiled at each other and she kissed the corner of his lips.

"I´ve missed you"

The impulse of keeping it together failed miserably, and soon his arms were snaking around her body so tightly Emma could only gasp. "I´ve missed you terribly," he muttered against her neck leaving light kisses there.

"Me too. So much"

"Mum! Come on!" Andy called from the distance when seeing the adults were not behind him.

"Let´s go." Will marched after her thinking taking her hand would be too much considering the fact it was the first time in three years he would see Andy. "Backseat, Andy," she said when the boy intended to take a seat he shouldn´t.

"But mum-"

"But nothing, Mister. You know you can´t go there yet"

The little one growled, "Ok"

Cleveland was a nice city; quite different from Lima. Somehow, Will had learned to love his little town, despite he had complain about it in the past and reassured everyone he would move as soon as he could. He never did. It was home, where his life had taken place. Regardless of its flaws, Lima would see him grow old.

"You´ve made it. I´m so glad you made it," her voice took him out of his thoughts.

"Why wouldn´t I?" she had her eyes on the road, but still focused on the companion seat next to her.

"I don´t know…," she knew. Maybe he thought the entire situation was too messy. It was really. Seeing each other sporadically, being careful about what they did, what they say. They wanted to go slow, but it was messy. Slow wasn´t enough; _how could it be slow when all you want to do is jump in to his arms the minute she saw him_? But Emma would go through all that mess.

"Hey, Will, guess what?" Andy spoke cheerfully.

"What?"

"I´m the captain of the baseball team"

"Really?"

"Yes, and we play tomorrow afternoon. You´ll be here tomorrow, right?"

"You know he will be," she teased her son and then spoke to Will, "It´s tomorrow at 2. You think you´ll be awake by then?"

Andy laughed when Will pretended to be outraged, "I'll be awake at 6 and kick your door down."

"Mum sleeps like a bear, so don´t think she´ll hear you."

"Hey!" Emma laughed, "I don´t sleep like a bear!"

"You do so… You always have trouble waking up in the morning- Hey we´re here!" The boy climbed out of the car and rushed to the front door carrying Will´s bag. "Mum! Keys! Why are you taking so long?" he was too distracted to notice the intensity of Emma´s gape every time Will fixed his eyes on hers or how dawdling his movements were so he could gain at least one more second alone with her.

They settled inside; Andy´s verbosity never ceasing. He was wound up and ready to talk for the whole night.

"Ok, young man it´s time to go to bed," Emma announced a few minutes to ten, after having dinner and talking for a while.

"I don´t feel like sleeping, mum," but a yawn left his little mouth.

"You do and it´s late. Come on, Andy, get going. I´ll look for your book while you change." Will observed the dedication Emma had for her son. She let him be and yet, watching out he wouldn´t do what he pleased.

"Need help?" he asked standing up after Emma walked to the kitchen and then back to the next room for the second time.

"It´s ok, Will, don´t worry. I´ll be right back, I just need to find his book."

"Any clue where it might be?"

"Not in the least"

He chuckled, "Maybe I could let him borrow my IPod… But only if the book is not school-related"

"Sure go ask him… I bet he´s going to be excited."

He was. A male presence in the house, rather had the opposite effect than Emma was thinking, it cheered Andy up. A non-parental loving figure was better than an absent father and her son lacked a character to feel he could identify with and he was happy to create that kind of bond with Will.

"Night, bug," the guest kissed the top of Andy´s head after tucking him in bed, "tomorrow´s going to be a great day."

"Hope we win," his voice was sleepy.

"You´re so going to win," he reassured him.

"Good night, sweetheart. I´ll wake you up tomorrow"

"Kay"

And finally, the door was closed and they were alone. Emma smiled warmly, she looked tired as well.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?"

They rested on the couch and he looked around. It was the first time he stepped in Emma´s house. It was homey and bright. "You look exhausted," he told her rubbing her back when she sat straighter.

"I´m a little tired. It was a long day."

"It went so slow for me. I couldn´t wait to get here"

A blush appeared across her cheeks, "Couldn´t wait for you to get here either. Didn´t think you´d come."

"I told you I would," he had reassured her a dozen of times.

"I know, but still"

"I didn´t promise it," he winked cheekily and Emma giggled. Promises were underrated.

"Good. If you would have I would know there was a little chance of you coming," she teased back causing Will to burst into laughter.

"I miss you."

"Me too. Did you like your bedroom?"

He chuckled, she was clearly messing with him and he dared to mock her too, "Adored it. I bet it´s the coziest room in the house."

"You´ll have to find out… Maybe it is, maybe it´s not…"

"Andy´s great. He´s like you when you were his age."

"I didn´t talk that much"

"You did. You became quieter, though, and then you became this extraordinary person," he was serious now, trying to put into words how much admiration he had for her. If only it wasn´t so hard.

"Will, stop. You´re embarrassing me," a kiss on her cheek followed by more redden flesh caused Will to grin at her. "You´ve changed. You´ve grown," she whispered realizing how close he was, "You´re mature and so… handsome. I knew you´d turn into something like this when we were growing up. You want things always wanted things"

"You say that as if it's a bad thing"

"It´s not. Not at all. It´s a compliment."

"I know what you mean. I wanted many things, but in the end," he pondered, "it was too fast. I shouldn´t have rushed. I had time"

"Still do," Emma encouraged her best friend, "You´re young. We´re young. We have time."

"Do we?"

"Yes," she desperately wanted to believe that.

"How much?" the hopelessness in his voice hit her; if one of them would be downhearted, the other shouldn´t.

"Plenty of time, I hope."

Emma walked Will to his room. For the moment, appearances must be kept. Except there was no chance she would leave him for the entire night. So she faked a goodnight before kissing him at the doorframe.

"You´re really leaving me?" he was sort of stunned.

"I´ll come to see if you need anything," she replied batting her eyelashes at him.

"I need _you!_"

"I´m not 'anything'…," she teased him walking backwards across the hallway. But she returned minutes later and peeped through the half-opened door of Will´s bedroom. His perfect toned back was bent forward on the bed, as he looked for a T-shirt to sleep with and Emma bit her lip. She had always marveled his body. His muscular and strong body…, "Hey," her voice was soft when calling his attention.

He turned around and fell open. A short silky slip. And skin, so much skin; his imagination didn´t have to run wild, it was all there, "H-hey"

"I was just checking if you were ok…," she supported her weight on the doorframe and locked eyes with him.

"Y-yeah…," steps were given; he wondered if she had already applied her lotion. "Is that what you wear to sleep?"

"This?" she mocked him looking down at the nightie and then right back to him, "No… I'm wearing it for you. Do you like it?"

"Erm, I don´t know…," he played along as his fingers traced the line of her hip and up across her ribcage, "I don´t think this color suits you."

"Oh… But I like black…," a small gasp escaped her lugs when he buried his face on her neck, "Don´t y-you like black?" his mouth closed behind her ear shell, his wet tongue brushed her perfumed skin.

"You know I almost fell for that little prank of yours….," Emma giggled, "but to be honest I was going to sneak in to your bedroom at any minute."

"I´m on the pill again, Will", she whispered huskily on his ear, knowing how much he enjoyed feeling her.

He brought her to him, ravenous of all of her and walked them back to the neatly made single bed. A kiss on her belly and another one between her breasts and his hands were already creeping underneath the light fabric. She panted when his mouth kissed her naked body, leaving wet traces behind it. And then she was on top of him, her short length resting on his, every patch of skin warmed up after every single touch he provided. Will had forgotten how perfectly their bodies fitted. Her straddling hips moved slowly above his.

"You´re so beautiful," he whispered huskily when she arched her back and her belly tensed.

"Will…," she was struggling not to moan louder, Andy was in the adjoining room. "Will, God…"

Her upper body bent forward, her thighs tightened on his sides, and he felt the pressure around his shaft, "Emma…" He wouldn´t hold much longer if she kept clinging his neck like that, if she kept gasping that hotly on his ear, "Sweetheart come for me," his hips bucked up in her and she tensed and shook. One more push and she trembled violently on top of him. His name falling low off her lips and one last drove and he came inside her.

Their sultry bodies waved silently for minutes. Unmovable…sweaty…hot.

He rolled them over and spooned her, curling his arms around her belly, "You´re amazing"

"You´re gorgeous," he chuckled at her cute comment, "Really. You´re so gorgeous"

They shifted, uncomfortable. The bed was way too small.

"You tricked me," he muttered on her nape and she turned her face towards him, "you told me this was a comfy bedroom"

"I never said such a thing. I said you had to find out."

"Well I did…"

"So?"

"So if this is the best room in the house I better find a better one," they giggled quietly.

"Let's go to my room… My bed is big enough for two and I guess I could make some room for you there."

Emma´s bedroom was white and beautifully furnished; he noticed the way she had made all the colors pop out in special places of the room. It was very Emma and Will loved it.

"Much better…," he groaned collapsing on the king-sized mattress and she giggled, crawling next to him, positioning her back on the headboard.

"Yeah… definitively much better…And so much more space," her stretching legs, intentionally kicked his.

"Hey!"

"What?" her voice was innocent, "It´s my bed…," she wasn´t tired anymore; she felt alive, energized.

"You have to be a good girl and share with your guests…," he stated pretending to be a patient teacher.

"With all my guests?"

"No, just with me…," he rolled to lie on his belly and moved closer, the flesh of her sternum warmed his halter.

"Just with you?"

"Yes, just with me. Can you do that?"

"I can"

His strong arms supported his weight and rested his torso partially on hers, so their mouths could meet one more time; slowly at first, until hunger made its looming appearance. She nibbled and sucked his bottom lip, and he let his hands wonder underneath her silky slip. Will budged above her, finding a better place to set his hips and Emma´s legs spread slightly to welcome him between them. Leisurely, his mouth traced a line to her neck and planted soft kisses there.

"Can I tell you something?" she whispered when his lips closed around her gullet.

"Uh-hu"

"You drive me so crazy sometimes," he pressed himself in to her center, eliciting a sharp gasp out of his lover, "I don´t remember feeling like this in so long."

"Like what, Em?" he kept loving the creamy skin of her collarbone.

"Like this…," she blushed.

"Tell me…"

"So… _horny_…," her confession was half breathed, half whined.

"I make you horny?" he loved playing games with her.

"Yeah…," she closed her eyes as the tingling sensation in her belly restarted.

"You have no idea how hot you are."

"Really?" their eyes met and Emma´s sparkled and clouded when he rotated on her once more.

"Yes… So so hot and lovely."

Her breath was humid against his mouth when a slow rhythm was caught, "Kiss me, Will," she pleaded with lust. His fists settled on both sides of her thighs, lifting his upper body but not breaking the friction amid their lower part. She arched and writhed, and thanked the pillows for cushioning her spine of the wooden headboard. The whiteness of the sheets made her hair look like flames. "Kiss me, please," she begged so low he barely heard her.

He complied with her need, brushing her upper lip with his, capturing her wet flesh with the tenderness missing on their rocking hips. His boxers slid down his legs under the rush of Emma´s fingers, and so did her panties.

"This needs to be off," he pointed as his palms ran across her ribcage, bringing the silk up to finally being pulled above her head. "You shouldn´t wear any clothes when you´re with me," his voice was thick with arousal and not being able to wait any longer, he pushed in her.

Her head fell back as the awaited feeling of completeness finally occurred. Like if nothing had happened minutes ago, she bucked on him, greedily and panted when he drove in her with power. She watched him groan, his marked biceps bearing all his weight, his tongue licking his lips, his concentration to hold on.

"Oh, Will…," her nails yanked his curls when his forehead rested on her weaving chest. She felt herself burning all over again and hung her legs on his sides allowing him to thrust deeper.

He growled on her mouth, the heat of her body felt delicious, "You´re so hot…," his drives grew in frequency and intensity and Emma could do nothing but to catch up with him.

"Ugh, Will… more," her palms were sweaty when pushing his behind in to her.

In a quick move, he scooped the back of her knee and brought her calf to his shoulder. And Emma cried.

"Like that?"

"Yes… Oh, yes, right there…," she was moaning feverishly, the new angle proved to be Heaven. She was dangling on the edge of her orgasm.

She was close, and he felt her. He wouldn´t hold much longer either and with the last hint of strength there were left, rammed into her, clawing her up the headboard, grasping her exposed thigh.

She whined sensually, and shook as the tremors of her walls began. The pressure of her insides immediately brought him to tense and shudder to finally spill inside her warm body. Her name rolled off his lips as he was climaxing, and finally his arms gave in and he collapsed on top of her shaking form.

"Will…," she didn´t want him off of her, "mmm, Will…," the sensation hitting her was all consuming, "That was…"

"I-I know…," despite the fact he had a lack of breath, he kissed her hard, pressing himself on her. "Incredible"

"You just blew my mind," she panted hoarsely trying to suppress a giggle.

-xx-

"Mum why are you crying?" she couldn´t help a few tears to roll down her cheeks after Will rode off in the bus. They would see again, she was certain; but having him close, that close, sharing time with her and Andy had proved to be more than she had imagined.

Clearing her throat she managed to come with a decent answer, "Because I´m going to miss Will."

"He´ll come again?"

"Yes"

"When?"

"I don´t know… maybe in a couple of weeks." It was uncertain, actually. They had talked and she would go to Lima in two weeks, but Will coming back anytime soon wasn´t confirmed.

"Oh…," the boy seemed disappointed.

"Do you like spending time with Will?"

"Yes, I'm happy when he´s around. And you´re happier," the boy was 10, but wasn´t naïve. Lately his mother looked cheery.

"I´m happy when he comes," she agreed.

"And you´re sad when he leaves," Andy pointed with logic.

"Yes"

"Why are you sad? He´s going to come back…"

"I know, but I love Will." _How much is enough_? She didn´t know if that was the right moment to have _the talk_ with Andy. _How much could he take_?

"I love Will too. He´s so good to me; I like talking to him."

"Would you like to see him more often?" his mother trailed with tact.

"Yes"

"Because we could go see him some weekend…," leaving Andy with her mother twice a month wasn´t exactly her idea of being a responsible parent. He wasn´t a package to be left somewhere anytime she wanted to spend a romantic weekend with Will.

"Really?"

"Yes, he told me we could go," he had, after she had turned down his suggestion for a getaway to Lima next Saturday. '_I can´t leave Andy alone every weekend, Will_', she had told him sweetly and that was when he had come up with the invitation.

"And you said yes?"

"I said I'd ask you to come."

"I´d love to go!"


	18. Chapter 16

**XVI**

Handling distance wasn´t effortless. Months were dragged out and their encounters were brief. A weekend in Lima, then a lonely one, then one in Cleveland, and the fourth one was always a mystery.

Late hour phone calls, sweet texts during midday; but at the end of the day, they laid alone in their own beds.

Sometimes, he wondered why they had to plan everything out so much. Maybe his single years had given into bad habits or maybe it was his impulse to go see her. Regardless the day or the time there was no doubt he missed her. The look on her face, her cuddles at night, making dinner in silence. No matter how they would manage to organize everything it was never enough.

Sometimes Will was frustrated, but she had Andy. She just couldn´t leave everything like that and run to him. He knew it; she had said it many times. He knew it; she had said it several times. And he had Annie, although they didn´t dwell together he had responsibilities towards his daughter; not the same responsibilities Emma had towards Andy, but still.

She returned to Lima several times sometimes with Andy and sometimes her by herself. She spent time with Annie as well and even babysat her when Terri´s father past away. She figured out that Will had probably talked to his daughter because as soon as they were left alone the little girl began asking questions. Probing questions.

"My dad likes you," she was coloring a Disney Princess sketch, "I can tell he likes you because he always talks about you."

"Oh… I, uhm, I like Will to," she blushed and replaced 'your dad' for 'Will'. It sounded less hostile.

"Are you…," the girl trailed after a while, "You´re my dad´s girlfriend, aren´t you?"

"Yes…," she wanted to hang Will for not talking with his daughter before.

"He said something once… but he wasn´t very clear… so you´re going to keep coming?"

"Yes… But you don´t have to see me if you don´t want to…," pushing her into something she didn't want to do wasn´t on her list.

"You´re nice…Why have you never invited me to Cleveland?" the girl seemed somehow hurt and Emma smiled at her.

"I didn´t think you wanted to come… Do you want to come?" Annie nodded, "Well, maybe you can come by the end of the month… You´ll have fun with Andy. We have a dog named Frankie."

"Ok… Yes, I want to go. I like dogs. I want one but my mum won´t get me one," the girl exposed her complaints slightly upset.

"Maybe she doesn´t have the time to take care of it… a dog is a lot of work."

"Yeah.. I´d take care of it, though; maybe wash him and take him for a walk," Emma brushed Annie´s hair until the girl spoke again, "I didn´t want grandpa to die."

"I know, sweetie," the girl sobbed and nestled her face on her folded arms and Emma took her between hers. "Shhh… It´s ok."

They fell asleep on the couch; Annie snuggled on her chest, as her arms embracing her protectively. It was Will´s kiss on the corner of her mouth waking Emma up.

"Will… you´re back," she whispered trying not to move so Annie wouldn´t wake up, "How was everything?"

"Everything was ok…", he wouldn´t tell but he had been staring at her sleeping, holding his daughter in her arms and his chest had swelled; it was precipitated, but for a moment he couldn´t help imagining her like that, holding a kid. Their kid. Maybe a ginger girl, with curls and freckles.

"Is Annie going back to Terri´s?" he nodded, "Ok… What´s that?" she was referring to the camera in his hands.

"You looked so beautiful," another peck on her lips and Emma grinned at him, "I couldn´t help it"

"Dork," she teased him and he kissed her one more time, "Annie… Annie, sweetheart… mommy´s here"

Terri walked in the living and nodded to Emma as a greeting gesture. She hadn´t been what one could call 'happy' by letting the red hair taking care of her daughter. But it was that or letting Annie go through an unnecessary situation.

"C´mon, bug… let´s get you to the car."

It was uncomfortable; seeing Terri. She was certain the blonde couldn´t stand her, she had 'stole' her husband after all. Why would she?

"Sometimes I feel guilty," she confessed pillowing her head in his upper arm, the next morning. The sun shined brightly outside, it was late. Awfully late. They had overslept.

"I know… me too. For the kids most of all… Terri and Carl had their part too… a small part, but still. The kids on the other hand…"

"You think they´ll be ok with this? I told Annie…," he looked at her, "she asked me some questions… I couldn´t lie to her."

"Have you talked to Andy?"

"I will… he likes you"

"You think he´ll be ok with you being… my girlfriend?" his shyness made her smile.

"Am I your girlfriend?" she giggled and squeezed his hand.

"I hope you are… what were you thinking you were?"

"I don´t know… I want you to be something else besides someone I see. I wouldn't make all this effort to see someone casually"

"Me neither"

"I don´t like going back home; well, I do… I miss Andy; but I don´t like leaving you."

His kisses were wet on her hairline while spooning her around to meet her gaze, "You could stay longer."

"I could…," his hands cupped her oval part and pressed her upon him, "but Carl is bringing Andy home at four and I have thirty minutes to leave if I want to be there on time"

"Ok," he didn´t release her and Emma giggled once more.

"I´m going to be late."

"Sorry," his mouth never ceased its work on her.

"Will…"

"I know…," he was being sassy, and her lips smiled widely.

"C´mon, I got to get up"

"Don´t," he rolled them over, resting his entire body on hers.

"Annie is going to be here any minute now," she bit her lip when he twirled her nipple with his fingers, "Please, Will… Stop," but her panting betrayed her and her hands gripped his shoulders as he continued torturing with sluggish movements.

When she got to Cleveland, Carl and Andy were waiting for her outside the house. She arrived an hour late; covering the hickeys on her neck with foundation had taken her more than she had expected.

-xx-

"You always cry when he leaves," Andy pointed out with a mockery tone after Will left and Emma drove back home. Her eyes were glossy; it had become harder seeing him leave. No matter how many times he´d say he was going to call and come back, resting on her bed after sharing it with him was depressing.

Emma said nothing, maybe it was time to come clean with her son. He must have some idea what was going on between her and Will.

"How much do you love Will?" he had been mulling over Will´s visits and theirs to Lima for some time now and her mouth went practically dry.

"W-what do you m-mean?" she coughed.

"Like a friend?"

"Uhm… more than a friend."

"He´s your boyfriend?" Emma swallowed, considering her next words, but Andy only kept talking, "I think he is. He´s always touching you and you always cry when he leaves"

"You think you´re ok with that?" She attempted to keep herself calm, although Andy didn´t rule her life she didn´t want him to think someone had replaced his father. Andy´s answer was 'yes', but his eyes were fixed on the road.

He didn´t look upset, just pensive. "What does it mean? Will is not going to be my dad, right?"

"Of course not. He´s my boyfriend"

"And my what?", stepfather sounded like a strong concept considering the fact they had only been together for five months and had only seen each other once a week; and occasionally not even that often.

"You can think of him as a godfather or a friend"

"Uhm, ok," his voice appeared to be cheerier. "You´re going to get married?"

"Wow, Geez, Andy … I-I don´t know," her eyebrows arched with surprise; she certainly wasn´t expecting such question, "I don´t know what´s going to happen."

"You´ve always had been friends with Will, right?"

"Since I was your age"

"Why weren´t you his girlfriend before?"

She knew something like this would come eventually come up, but she had been thinking about it; about how to address the subject, "Because I met your dad."

"Do you love dad?"

"I loved him very much. But not anymore… Not like before. It´s a different kind of love"

"Ok"

"You kissed Will the other day," he was curious and made an effort to understand what would happen from now on.

"When?" she had no idea they had kissed in public.

"In the kitchen"

"Oh…", now she remembered Will walking stealthy towards her and curling his arms around her belly for a surprise sneak attack while she prepared dinner. And they had kissed slowly between silent giggles.

"Does that mean you were his girlfriend for some time?"

"Yes"

"You lied?"

"No, I just didn´t tell you"

"Why?"

"Because I didn´t know what was going to happen."

"And you know now?"

"Nope," she smiled at him and he mirrored her expression, "I want you to ask me anything whenever you need to, ok?" he nodded. "Will and I are going to keep seeing each other, but I want you to understand Will is not going to replace your dad."

"I like Will," was his response out of encouragement.

-xx-

Emma was exhausted. From time to time, her fatigue caused her to nod off in front of the wheel, but she kept struggling harder against it; seeing Will was worth it. Definitively worth it.

She did the dishes that night, as he collected the rest of the things from the table. They were a great team, Will thought as he was watching her from behind. Her stuff had begun to slink around the house. Her toothbrush, a change of underwear or two, body lotion, a pair of slippers. He had even saved a drawer for her and bought a pair of rubber gloves, because he knew she didn't like ruining her nails as she was doing the dishes.

She was humming quietly while finishing the washing. She was lovely, so lovely it ached. It ached having her so close and then so far away. He missed that kind of comfortable silence during the week, the warmth of her body on his bed, the long conversations in the bathtub. Then he remembered she would leave in a couple of hours. He wouldn´t see her coat hanging in the closet, her nightie scattered on the border of the mattress. Sometimes he questioned himself what she wanted. They never talked about a near future. Time was measured by weeks, but he had begun wondering… He saw themselves together, he had pictured driving to her workplace (whatever it was) to take her out for lunch, he had pictured taking Andy camping, he had pictured spending Christmas together and waking up to watch the snowfall, he had pictured how their kid would look like if they ever had any. His mind had been coining fake memories for entire nights. But maybe, maybe she hadn´t… Maybe she was comfortable with the way things were. She never said anything about it. Never complained, never asked for less or more… And frustration crawled inside him.

"This isn´t working, Em," sometimes he was rough when he spoke; defeat did that to him.

"Wh-," there was no chance she had heard him correctly. And she turned around.

"I don´t think I can keep doing this"

Emma would ask him to repeat that. Hearing it again would only make it worst. So, she gulped as a knot formed in her throat, "What, uhm, what do you mean?"

"I mean this. Us. Travelling from here to there all the time. Don´t you get tired?"

"Erm, no… Well, sometimes, but I don´t mind," if she had known how little his commitment was, how little he wanted things, she would have taken a step back.

"It´s not working," he repeated and Emma swallowed once more.

The knot in her throat was unbearable, "Ok… Ok…," the words were partially breathed as she removed her rubber gloves, "Then I´ll just, uhm, leave," she was utterly thrown, "Yes, I´ll leave."

"So that´s it? You don´t care? You don´t want to talk about it?"

"What do you want me to do? To force you to keep seeing me? To beg you to stay with me? Well, no, Will. I won´t force you in to anything! And I certainly won´t beg you. If this is what you want, fine!" a light sob broke free, "But know this: I thought you cared. I don´t know… I thought we could-"

"I care," he blocked the way out to prevent her for leaving, "I can´t keep doing this because I want more."

"What´s that supposed to mean?" now she didn´t understand.

"I don´t want to keep seeing you like this. Twice a month, three times a month if we´re lucky. I want you to stay with me."

"What?"

"Move to Lima, Em. Move here, near me," the warmth of his hands reached hers, "I can´t stand the distance"

"Will… I… I can´t move. It´s not easy. I can´t afford another moving. I can´t spend Andy´s savings for college and I don´t have a job here. How am I supposed to provide for him?" he remained silent, holding her hand; a begging expression casted his eyes, "That´s all I have. Him and my job. How can I possib-"

"You also have me," his smiled revealed sadness and devotion and Emma snuggled in his chest.

"Yes…I have you"

"Em, I love you"

"I love you too," he knew she did. She had told him, when being a kid and several times now.

"No, I mean…," gently he grabbed her shoulders and pulled away to face her directly, "I love you. I´m in love with you"

"You are?" her chest warmed up, her cheeks flushed pink and Will nodded, "I´m in love with you too. So much. I think… you´re the only man I'm supposed to love".

"There was always someone between us," he meditated bitterly for a moment.

"There will always be someone between us," she had learned to live with that. Boyfriends, husband, Andy… But it was different now. "Will….", she trailed softly, "I´d love to come here… but it´ll take time. I need to get a job and I don´t know when is tha-"

"You could come here with me. To move in with me," she got lost in his eyes, "We could…" he began shyly, "We could make it work. Andy will have his bedroom and we´ll have ours. And then, if everything goes ok, we could move to a bigger place."

"Will…." her hand caressed his un-shaved cheek, "Are you sure?"

"Positive"

"Can you live with that?"

"With what?"

"With the whole package? You won´t take me and me only… It´s Andy. I´m not asking you to be his father-"

"I could never replace his father," he was a father already, "but I can take care of him and love him as much as he deserves"

"That was exactly what I was hoping to hear."

"So is that a yes? Will you stay with me?"

"Yes"

"Are you sure? Because there´s no going back," he teased her hugging her tightly and Emma giggled.

"Yes, I´m sure," she could deal with inconveniences later. She had Will.

"You make me so happy, Em," his lips sealed her with a loving kiss, "And I hope I can make you happy too… I promise I´ll-"

"Don´t," her smile was sweet while shushing him, "Don´t promise to promise. I´m tired of living out of words, Will. Let's just… let's just forget about promising and start living on actions."

He grinned at her widely, "Ok… I love you"

She smirked wrapping her arms around his neck and pulled him close to capture his mouth forcefully, "Don´t say it. Do it. Love me, Will… love me _now_"

**Sooo! This was the last chapter! A short epilogue will be published soon! **


	19. EPILOGUE

**After your cute messages and PMs, I decided to give you a little smutty/fluffy Epilogue. Hope you like it! **

**Just wanna the end is inspired by a story of Mario Benedetti called "Vaivén" ("swing").**

**EPILOGUE**:

It was easy letting their hands explore former territory. They knew the places proficient of eliciting the most exquisite sounds. Gasps, moans, even giggles and sighs. His hand made their way to her waist, loving how tiny she was; her mouth encouraged him to follow his instincts by capturing his upper lip and sucking it slightly.

They walked, tangled as they were, towards the bedroom, to tumble on the unmade bed. He would make it later, he had said; but there they were, getting undressed between the messy sheets, tossing each garment to the floor.

"This is gonna be your bed from now on," his voice was husky while curling his arms around her belly and she giggled.

"It is. I like it"

"You do?" he was playful while squeezing her softly.

"Yeah," her reply came out more of a breath when feeling his lips closing on her nape and his lower body pressing on her behind.

He had no idea how they had got to be laying like that. Probably because Emma had been teasing him and trying to get rid of his grip. But, oh no, she wouldn´t. He caressed the bare skin of her tummy and a little higher where her breasts were and her chin lowered. It felt good, so good to be touched like that; so gently, lovingly and yet with such desire.

"I love when you hold me like that," was her whisper when the gap between their bodies disappeared and Will grasped her securely.

"Like this?"

"Yes, it´s so hot… to feel you like this"

He let out an imperceptible chuckle and pressed harder on her butt, while pillowing her head on his upper arm. "You´re so beautiful," he coiled one of her ginger locks with his fingers, playing with it and let his free one to fall in front of her hips, to that patch of skin where he knew she would moan if he touched it, "And lace suits you so well…."

Emma breathed jaggedly and bucked forward on his hand, and he bucked forward on her ass, trapping her so seductively she gasped and looked at him above her shoulder. Her eyes were hooded, dark, and yet beautifully sparkling. "I love you. I´m…," her hips waved again, "I´m so in love with you."

"So am I," he slid his palm through her underwear and she shifted in her place, allowing him to remove it.

The warm of his fingers never ceased on her and she captured his lower lip again, "Mmm, Will…"

"Yeah, baby?" he felt the seam of sweat forming on his chin, behind his knees, on his neck. She was on fire.

"Feels so good…"

"Does it?" he teased as he heated her nub of nerves, making sure to run across then and moist her completely.

"I want you," her pants were low while her hand flew to his behind to slip his boxers down; but couldn´t conceal the desperation in her voice, "I want you so much. M-make love to me. Please, make love to me."

"Like this?" slowly he entered, pressing himself fully on her tiny back and Emma mirrored his actions.

"_Oh_, yes… Like that," she moaned and swayed her hips leisurely, and he groaned when feeling her completely.

Spooning sex. It was mind-blowing. They had never done it before. It was hot; different. He had never noticed how perfectly her back was defined until that afternoon.

Emma linked one of her hands with the one resting on her head. Her breathing was labored, heavy, turning into sharp pants after every passing second, every time he drove in her. It was the most excruciating rhythm they had caught before. Slow, sensual, silent, focused. They would be together; they stared and panted; they would be together. It became faster, intense, slightly frantic and Will growled holding her hip with his free hand. He pushed harder, partially letting his chest to hover over her and Emma moaned, burying her face in the pillow. He was hitting that spot; that spot he knew so well how to find.

"Will.. Oh goodness…," he was throbbing inside her, ramming faster.

"Emma…," his voice was hoarse on the shell of her ear.

Her name rolling out of his mouth caused Emma to toss her head around to meet his eyes; his beautiful, tender, hazel eyes. Their lips crushed instantly. The angles of her mouth couldn´t possibly provide him more perfect access. It was wide, and welcoming and so wet he could do nothing but to push harder.

"Ughh…," she whined breaking the kiss when feeling him move inside her, "Oh Will…"

"Oh my god, you´re perfect," he captured her lips again, skating his tongue inside her, brushing her teeth, her palate, twirling with her excited flesh. He enveloped her whole body, grasping, clutching every delicious portion of skin he could reach. Her hips, her legs, anything; he wanted Emma just for himself, forever. "You´re gonna be with me," he was possessive as thrusting harder and she arched and nodded, biting her lip hard, so hard she feared it could draw blood, "You´ll be just mine"

"Yes…_Oh yes_, Will…, " she was rocking wildly, stealing kisses every time the air was enough, "More, Will…," she was tempestuous, passionate, "Oh my G-God, I love you. I love you so much", she was whining; the intensity of the moment was overwhelming and felt her insides clutching around him.

"Em… Em, love," he couldn´t hold out much longer; her tremors were pushing him to the edge and she came, writhing beneath him and he came moments later as watching her expression relax and her eyelids closing in ecstasy.

Their humid breaths mixed and he kissed her passionately, bringing her to rest on him. She was still panting and silence fell upon them.

His fingers stroked the soft skin of her lower belly. It was smooth and warm.

"You don´t have a scar from Andy´s birth," he observed tracing slow patterns on her immaculate abdomen.

"No… It was a natural birth"

"You never told me about it," he was obsessed with the whole idea of pregnant Emma.

"There´s not much to tell….It was a regular pregnancy," she smiled on his pec and planted a light kiss there.

"And you? How were you?"

"I was fine… you saw me the first months… I was moody," she giggled, "And had cravings all the time. I wanted peanut butter at any minute of the day. I spent the last semester eating that. And that was exactly how I looked at the end of the whole process…," there was curiosity in his eyes, "like a peanut butter jar"

Will burst out into laughter, "I doubt you looked like that… and even if you did I bet you were a beautiful jar," he was always sweet and she snuggled into his chest, "You know, you could have come seen me… Can´t resist peanut butter… I always have it in my fridge. Are you sure there wasn´t a glutton mini-me inside you? Stealing all the peanut butter?"

She sniggered softly and added low, "I wished it once"

"Wh-"

"I wished it was your kid I was expecting"

He sat up, bringing her with him, "Emma…," his heart hammered so hard in his chest; he feared she would heard it.

"I wondered what would you have done if I told you I was having your baby," her cheeks burned and he felt them on his skin, "You´re gonna think I don´t love Andy, but I do with all my heart-"

"I know you do-"

"But I wanted him to be yours…"

"Emma…," he could only keep repeating her name.

"I wished he would look like you"

He kissed her so passionately, she melted in his arms, while whispering his name and falling back on the bed.

"I wanted to bear your children."

"I want you to be the mother of my children," she smiled; a warm, shy, loving smile lines her lips, "We could, Em. We could do anything you want"

"I want to be with you."

"We could do that."

"I want to marry you."

"We could do that too."

"And I want to hum in your ear until you fall asleep. And I want to wake up next to you for every day from now on. And I want to make you feel good and help you grow, and spend time with you in any way, I don´t care," the mumbling wouldn't stop, "And then I want you to get me pregnant. And I want to give you a curly kid with brown eyes. And I want to make love to you until I have no more strength."

"Ok"

"Can we do that?"

"Yes… yes, Em…," all his body rested across her length, "But for now, I´d say we start with last thing you mentioned"

She giggled, "And then we can keep doing that?"

His voice was playful, "I think…," a kiss on her jaw line, a tickle on her belly, "You´re gonna be asking me to stop soon"

"I think… I would never ask you such thing"

-xx-

_The darkness of the dune casted her eyes; the roughness of the ocean did the same with his. They were the same as before, printed with time and life, with experience and death, only forty years had elapsed._

"_Can´t you sleep?" it was 2 am in the morning and she was sweet while asking, resting her head on her palm._

"_I don´t think I want to sleep," he moved closer; the sheet had fell from her body on that summer night. The veteran brushed a snowy strand of hair that used to be ginger and Emma smiled when his hand caressed her cheek. There were no pores, only wrinkles and yet softness and warmth. He took a moment to contemplate the wreck havoc time had left on his body. The slacken belly, the excess skin of his chin, the weakness of his knees. _

"_You´re so beautiful, Will," she was looking at him so intensely, still finding the young man she always loved. Maybe he had misheard, but she spoke again, "always will be."_

_The wrinkles around her eyes, the fallen cheeks, and the slackness of her neck failed when trying to make her look deplorable. Their fingers found each other; not the same fingers forty years ago. They were bonny, and slightly rougher. But they fitted as perfectly as every time and they watched their interlocked hands as watching and old and familiar landscape. Recalling old times, they realized that passion now was the legendary, the normal corollary of an ancient passion; just there, their chests engorged and he leaned forward to kiss her. She smiled in to the kiss and moved closer. _

"_I can´t believe you´re so beautiful," his vocal cords were jagged after years of teaching, "I can´t believe you´re with me."_

"_I love you"_

"_I love you too, Em." He fell asleep minutes after, holding her aged body while she clutched on his skinny arms. They were the same; they would always be the same_.

**A/N: I just want to thank everyone for the encouraging words. They meant a lot, especially when having some hard time with certain people regarding this story not being a Wemma fic. I ALWAYS write Wemma. Always will. It was amazing having your support when taking a chance with this plot; I can´t hardly begin to describe how thankful I am. Really. THANK YOU. And thanks to ****Nicole****, for helping me with this. I bet it wasn´t that good if it wasn´t for her amazing contribution. **


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